STUDIES ON SOME BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICOCHEMICALPARAMETERS OF ROCK POOL HABITATS OF MOSQUITOES(DIPTERA:CULICIDAE)

STUDIES ON SOME BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICOCHEMICALPARAMETERS OF ROCK POOL HABITATS OF MOSQUITOES(DIPTERA:CULICIDAE)

ABSTRACT

Entomologicalsurveyswereconductedtodeterminethebiologicalandphysicochemical parameters influencing mosquito breeding in rock pools on inselbergsinKaduna State. Availablerockpoolswere searchedon theinselbergsfortnightlybetween June and October, 2013 in 21 settlements distributed in 7 Local GovernmentAreas.This covered theState vegetation from the Guinea Savanna to SudanSavanna.Atotal of 368rockpoolsweresampledformosquitolarvaeusingsoupladle dipper(0.105L)from269(69.7%)rockpoolsharbouringmosquitolarvae.Biological(microinvertebrates,macroinvertebrates,macrophytes,algaeandvertebrates)andphysicochemical (depth, surface area, distances to adjoining pools, temperature, pH,total dissolve solid, electrical conductivity, total suspended solid, turbidity, hardness,dissolve oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, phosphate,nitrate and alkalinity) parameters of the pools were determined.Polymerase ChainReaction was used for the identification of mosquito species of Anopheles gambiaes.s.Ofthe31,726mosquitolarvaecollected,thirteenspeciesinthreemosquitogenera(Aedes, Anopheles and Culex) including Ae. vittatus (95.71%),An. arabiensis(0.01%), An. gambiae s.s. (0.1%), An. longipalpis (0.0%), An. pretoriensis (0.0%), An.rufipes (0.02%), Cx. albiventris (0.84%), Cx. horridus (0.33%)Cx. macfiei (0.76%), Cx.perfidiosus (1.65%), Cx. pipiens pipiens (0.44%), Cx. simpsoni (0.0%) and Cx. tigripes(0.0%) bred in rock pools. Aedes vittatuswas the most dominant mosquito encounteredin all the 21 sampling locations. PCR–based assay revealed 41.6% amplification of theAn. gambiaecomplex sample with 38.9% populations belonging to An.gambiae s.s.whilstthe remaining 2.6% wereAn. arabiensis.Up to58.4% of the An. gambiaecomplex could not be identified through PCR even after three runs. ANOVA showedthat the abundance of mosquito larvaediffered significantlywith pH of the rock pools(p<0.05).Highlysignificantdifferenceexistedbetweentheabundanceofmosquitolarvae and total dissolve solid, electrical conductivity and alkalinity of the rock pools(p<0.001). The abundance of mosquito larvae did not differ significantly with depth,surfacearea,totalsuspendedsolid,hardnessandturbidityoftherockpools(p>0.05).PrincipalComponentAnalysisshowedthattemperature,electricalconductivity and total dissolve solids were paramount for mosquito breeding in rockpoolhabitats.Low

positive correlation (r = 0.394) existed between dissolve oxygen and abundance ofmosquitolarvae (p<0.001).Strong positive correlation(r=1.000)existbetweenbiochemical oxygen demand and the abundance of mosquito larvae (p<0.005). Nitrate (r=0.047) and chemical oxygen demand had low positive correlation (r=0.029) with mosquito abundance. Strong positive correlation (r) existed between macroinvertebrateandmosquitoabundance(p<0.001) whilemicroinvertebrates correlatednegatively (r) withtheabundanceofmosquitolarvae(p<0.05)inrockpools.ChlorophyteshadwidespreadoccurrencewhileMicrocystisspp.hadthehighestpercentagepositivity,beingtheonlycyanophyteassociatedwithmosquitolarvae(p<0.05)in rockpools.Chlorophytumlaxumwaspredominantamongstotheraquaticmacrophytes foundwith mosquitolarvaeinrockpools.Epidemiologically,themosquitospeciesencounteredarepotentialvectorsofhumanandanimaldiseases,hencerockpoolsshouldbeinspectedtoincriminatevectors andbeincorporatedinmosquitocontrolstrategies.

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