Abstract
Mosquitoes depend on blood meal for the development of their eggs into offsprings. By knowing the biting behaviour of mosquitoes, we may control mosquito-borne diseases and manage the mosquitoe menace successfully. The present study has been designed to study the biting behaviour of the filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus Say, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India from July to November 2006. This period was selected as mosquitoes are prevalent during this rainy season. Biting was more during September, October and November and the maximum of 28 caught/man/hour was recorded in November. It is predominantly an exophilic biter, but biting was also noticed as maximum inside the house during July in the study. The density of the biting population in the first floor was more than that of the second floor, which indicated the existence of vertical stratification in the biting behaviour of Cx quinquefasciatus.
Highlights
Mosquitoes are found throughout the world, except Antarctica
The biting behaviour of Cx. quinquefasciatus was studied in a house, located in Jaihindpuram, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India (Figure 1)
Adult mosquitoes attracted to human being (25 years old female) were collected from the collection sites for 24 hours continuously in order to determine whether Cx. quinquefasciatus exhibits exophagic or endophagic behaviour and to note the existence of the vertical stratification in the biting behaviour
Summary
Mosquitoes are found throughout the world, except Antarctica. They belong to the order, Diptera of the class Insecta. Cx. quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito, has been very well studied in recent times due to its major role in transmission of diseases in human beings [12,13]. The present work has been planned to make an attempt to study the biting behaviour of Cx. quinquefasciatus in an urban area.
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