Biodiversity of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with Emphasis on Potential Arbovirus Vectors in East Azerbaijan Province, Northwestern Iran

Abstract

Background: The abundance, diversity, distribution and ecology of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), especially ar­bovirus vectors are important indices for arthropod-borne diseases control.
 Methods: Larvae and adult mosquitoes were collected using the standard methods from different habitats in nine localities of three counties in the East Azerbaijan Province, Northwestern Iran during June to October 2017. In addi­tion, species richness (R), Simpson’s diversity index (D), Shannon–Wiener index (H̕) and evenness (E) as measures of diversity, were calculated.
 Results: Overall, 1401 mosquito specimens including 1015 adults and 386 larvae were collected in the study area. The properties of geographical larval habitats were recorded. Four genera along with 10 species were collected and identified, including Anopheles hyrcanus, An. maculipennis s.l., An. superpictus s.l., Aedes caspius, Ae. vexans, Cu­lex pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. perexiguus, Culiseta longiareolata and Cs. subochrea. Among the three counties, Ahar region presented the highest species richness (R: 1.5) and diversity values (D: 0.79, H’: 1.74, E: 0.73).
 Conclusions: This study provides important information on the diversity, distribution and ecology of ten mosquito species in the region. This information leads to a better understanding of mosquito population dynamics in relation to vector control measures.

Vertical Distribution, Biodiversity, and Some Selective Aspects of the Physicochemical Characteristics of the Larval Habitats of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran

“…These parameters are also referred to as environmental 9,13,25,68 or biological characteristics by some authors. 24,26,28,32,36 In the present study, spring bed pools and, to some extent, river edge and rice fields were the most prevalent types of larval habitats for all six anopheline and 12 culicine mosquitoes. They were mostly natural and temporary in nature, with standing and clear water, muddy substrate, sunlit, and with vegetation.…”

“…For example, no data are reported on the altitude of collected species in the studies conducted on the larval habitats of mosquitoes in Golestan, 33,35 Guilan, [19][20][21] Hormozgan, 13 Qom, 14 Hamedan, 22 Isfahan, 30 Kurdistan, 26 Kermanshah, 38 and Mazandaran 31 provinces. On the other hand, in studies carried out in Hormozgan 13,23,25 and East Azerbaijan 36 provinces, the altitudinal data were reported as a function of localities and sampling sites rather than mosquito species. Perhaps, in a number of these cases, such lack of data may actually come from the local ground features as there is little variation in elevations in low land areas.…”

“…pipiens larvae was collected from the low lands of the Caspian Sea littoral, including Guilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan 33,35 provinces. In comparison, the larvae of this species were collected in low numbers from the high land areas of Iran such as Ardebil, 55 Isfahan, 30 West Azerbaijan, 28 East Azerbaijan, 36,59 Kurdistan, 26 Kurdistan, and Kermanshah 38 provinces, implying that under suitable environmental conditions, Cx. pipiens tends to establish its population in low-altitudes.…”

“…Conversely, some other reports may not comply with this outcome. For example, the larvae of this mosquito species were collected in low numbers from the high-altitude provinces of East 36,59 and West Azerbaijan. 28 The findings of the present study do not fit any of these studies.…”

“…While early researchers have mostly concentrated on the general description of larval habitats, 16,17 late researchers have rather paid attention to the physicochemical characteristics of these places in detail. Several examples of the latter type of studies are those conducted by Yaghoobi-Ershadi et al 18 in Ardebil, Azari-Hamidian [19][20][21] in Guilan, Dehghan et al 22 in Hamedan, Hanafi-Bojd et al 23,24 and Soleimani-Ahmadi et al 13,25 in Hormozgan, Banafshi et al 26 in Kurdistan, Amani et al 27 in Lorestan, Khoshdel-Nezamiha et al 28 in West Azerbaijan, Ghanbari et al 29 in Sistan and Baluchistan, Ladonni et al 30 in Isfahan, Nikookar et al 12,31,32 in Mazandaran, Abai et al 14 in Qom, Sofizadeh et al [33][34][35] in Golestan, and Paksa et al 36 in East Azerbaijan. In a number of these studies, the biodiversity of mosquitoes 23,24,36,37 and associate species 12,[19][20][21][22][23][24]26,30,31,38,39 are considered as well.…”