Biting Activity of Mosquito Species (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Turkey-Armenia Border Area, Ararat Valley, Turkey

Abstract

During nine consecutive nights in July 2007 (from 18:15-05:45 h), mosquitoes landing-biting on humans were collected outdoors and indoors at the Turkey-Armenia border. A total of 1005 females were collected consisting of nine species. The dominant species was Aedes dorsalis (Meigen) (47.5% of total catch), followed by Anopheles hyrcanus (Pallas) (22.9%), Culex theileri (Theobald) (9.3%),Ae. vexans (Meigen) (6.6%), Ae. caspius (Pallas) (4.9%),Anopheles maculipennis s.l. (Meigen) (3.1%), Culex territans (Walker) (2.8%), Coquillettidia richiardii (Ficalbi) (1.6%), and Cx. pipiens L. (1.5%). The biting rate outdoors (15.1 mosquitoes/human/h) was greater than indoors (3.4 mosquitoes/human/h). The landing-biting of Ae. dorsalis peaked at dusk (19:15-19:45 h) and dawn (04:15-04:45 h). Ae. vexans activity increased soon after dark (20:15-20:45 h) and reached a peak at dawn (04:15-04:45 h). Maximum biting activity of An. hyrcanus and Cx. theileri occurred during the first sampling interval after dusk (20:15-20:45 h). A large number of An. maculipennis s.l. adults were collected during the second half of the night. We believe that these findings will contribute to decisions on the timing of mosquito control in Ararat Valley.

A retrospective chart review study to describe selected zoonotic and arboviral etiologies in hospitalized febrile patients in the Republic of Armenia

“…It is possible that the incidence and diversity of zoonotic and arthropod vector-borne infections are higher in rural regions of the country, where agricultural practices, as well as ecological and climatic conditions, offer an environment favorable for disease transmission. A recent study conducted in the Turkey–Armenia border area reported the presence of multiple mosquito species that are potential vectors of several pathogens [19]. Our findings may not represent the full diversity and burden of the zoonotic and arthropod vector-borne diseases in Armenia.…”

Parameterization and Sensitivity Analysis of a Complex Simulation Model for Mosquito Population Dynamics, Dengue Transmission, and Their Control

“…In most cases, the resources that larvae consume in natural systems have not even been identified. Finally, many investigators have estimated mosquito biting rates in the field, [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] but few have defined details of biting behavior that we identified as important in our sensitivity analysis.…”

Multiscale analysis for a vector-borne epidemic model

“…The last clock describes the frequency at which mosquitoes get infected. It has a large variance depend on the species-e.g.. [3]. For Aedes aegypti, it can be larger due to the fact that its feeding is easily disturbed, and hence it might need to bite many hosts in order to complete its feeding [43].…”