Determination of Species Composition of Mosquitoes in Lahore, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Present study was conducted to determine species composition of mosquitoes (larvae, pupae and adults) collected from ten different towns of Lahore from September 2014 to August 2015.
METHODS: Mosquito larvae, pupae and adults (male and female) were collected by using dippers and aspirators from September 2014 to August 2015 in different sites of Lahore comprising of ten towns i.e. Iqbal, Aziz Bhatti, Data Ganj Baksh, Gulberg, Nishtar, Ravi, Samanabad, Shalimar, Wagah, and Lahore Cantonment. Mosquito larvae and adults were identified by standard entomological keys. Diversity, richness and rarity of mosquito fauna were analyzed by the Shannon, Simpson and Margalef indices respectively.
RESULTS: In this study, a total of 8656 mosquitoes belonging to four genera namely Anopheles, Culex, Aedes and Mansonia were identified. Among fifteen species collected, Cx. quinquefasciatus was the most abundant species in the city having 25.8% relative abundance. However An. culicifacies s.l. (sensu lato) was reported as the least abundant species with 0.22% relative abundance. The highest diversity of mosquitoes was shown in the month of August (H= 2.25) while the lowest diversity was recorded June (H= 1.43). Extensive sewage water supported the maximum abundance of Cx. quinquifasciatus in urban areas of this city.
CONCLUSIONS: This study has significantly elaborated the monthly varying species composition of mosquito fauna of this city. Hence this research will help us to find out the control strategies of mosquito borne diseases in this region. Copyright© Iranian Society of Medical Entomology & Tehran University of Medical Sciences.