Limnological and botanical characterization of larval habitats for two primary malarial vectors, Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles pseudopunctipennis, in coastal areas of Chiapas State, Mexico.

Field surveys of mosquito breeding sites on the Pacific coastal plain and foothill regions of southern Chiapas, Mexico, were carried out in the dry and wet seasons of 1988. At each site, selected environmental variables were measured or estimated, presence and percent cover of aquatic plants recorded, a water sample collected for subsequent analyses, and 10-30 dips made for mosquito larvae. Logistic regression and discriminant analyses revealed that the occurrence of Anopheles albimanus larvae in both the wet and dry seasons was positively associated with planktonic algae and negatively associated with altitude. In the dry season, An. albimanus larvae were largely restricted to the margins of permanent water bodies and were associated with the presence of floating plants, particularly Eichhornia crassipes. During the wet season An. albimanus larvae were positively associated with emergent plants, particularly seasonally flooded Cyperaceae, and phosphorus (PO4) concentrations, and were negatively associated with abundant filamentous algae, high levels of total suspended solids (TSS) and Salvinia. In the dry season, An. pseudopunctipennis larvae were positively associated with filamentous algae, altitude and the presence of Heteranthera if encountered in a riverine setting, and were negatively associated with water depth. During the wet season, flooding eliminated typical flood plain An. pseudopunctipennis habitats, and larvae were rarely encountered.