Effect of rainfall duration on Aedes aegypti population

Abstract

Rainfall is considered as a significant factor on development of Aedes aegypti mosquito population. In this paper, the simulation of population dynamics of Aedes aegypti mosquito was done by considering the effect of rainfall duration associated with the conditions of mosquito breeding sites. A stage-structured Lefkovitch matrix was extended to integrate the relationship between rainfall and life cycle of Aedes aegypti which consists of egg, pupa, larva and adult. The water availability in mosquito breeding sites was taken into account and the temperature was set as a constant. We found that the population number of Aedes aegypti mosquito will decline if the longer consecutive days of receiving rains occurred and meanwhile the population keep increasing even there are no rainfall distribution in several days. The other conclusion that can be made was the containers are filled with sufficient water and be able to stand from hot temperature for several days before drying out might continue to provide mosquito breeding site. In the future, it is recommended to deliberate other surrounding factors such as change in temperature and humidity level in order to obtain more accurate result.