High mosquito diversity in an Amazonian village of Ecuador, surrounded by a Biological Reserve, using a rapid assessment method

Abstract

This research represents a study in an Amazonian village that has similar structures to others Kichwa Amazonian villages of Ecuador. We evaluated the diversity, ecology, possibility of mosquitoes/ pathogens translocation from forest to urban area, and the vulnerability by potential mosquito vectors of diseases through an intensive and fast method done January 2017. Our analyses registered a high diversity of mosquitos in Limoncocha village (33 spp, H’ 2.76), which includes four new records of species for Ecuador. We propose the biological reserve and the lagoon are determinant environmental factors for the high mosquito diversity, plus the socio-economic characteristics related with a deficient water pipeline supply and lack of solid waste system. Furthermore, the high diversity of sylvan mosquitoes registered throughout the area, that include several potential vectors, suggest a moderate to high vulnerability for the transference of pathogens from the Biological Reserve to the urbanized area, which may increase the circulation of little-known arboviruses (Mayaro, Ilheus, St Louis encephalitis) across Ecuador.

Biogeographical factors determining Triatoma recurva distribution in Chihuahua, México, 2014

“…We selected the MaxEnt algorithm because its application in previous works had yielded good results 30 , 31 even with scant data 32 , as in this case. Usually, in MaxEnt, the data are divided into two sets, one for the generation of the model and the other one for validation 33 , 34 . However, as this procedure loses important information within the data set for validation 35 , it is not suitable with small samples 35 but to solve the problem we resorted to a replication technique (bootstrapping) and generated 50 models.…”

Species diversity and spatial distribution of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from La Isla Amazon Park, Napo Province, Ecuador

“…Although vector-borne diseases are prevalent in the Amazonian and Coastal regions of Ecuador, there is a scarcity of ecological studies focused on Culicidae, and the majority of the existing research is relatively recent (Duque et al, 2019;Navarro et al, 2015). According to the Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador (2020), Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador (2021) and Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador (2022), Ecuador has repofigrted cases of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, Mayaro, yellow fever, and malaria.…”

“…La Isla Amazon Park (PALI, called after its Spanish initials) is an urban and touristic green area for recreational purposes and serves as a habitat for various vertebrate species. PALI is essential for tourist and ecological interests, as well as for public health because a large flow of people and the presence of possible vectors increases the probability and risk of disease transmission (Duque et al, 2019).…”

Monthly assessment of the relative abundance and development of immature stages of Culex mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of the selected breeding habitats in Niger, Nigeria

“…In addition, as the human population grows, so will the number of breeding places and habitats available to Culex vectors. The movement of water bodies along with eggs and larvae across the world can facilitate the increase in the distribution and abundance of these mosquitoes leading to the increase in the high percentage of the mosquito-borne diseases by Culex species in African countries (Braack et al 2018;Duque et al 2019;Wilke et al 2021). The larvae of these species have been in both semi-permanent and temporary habitats including ponds, freshwater swamps, gutters, discarded empty containers.…”