Estimation of the mortality of the immature stages of Aedes (Stegomyia) africanus Theobald in a tropical forest in Uganda

Abstract

Data on the populations of larval and pupal stages of Aedes africanus , an important sylvan vector of arboviruses, were collected from tree-holes which are its natural breeding sites in forests. Comparable data were also simultaneously collected from bamboo pots stationed in the Zika Forest to simulate the natural breeding sites. Survivorship curves and time-specific life-tables were constructed. It was observed that the immature stages of A. africanus in both tree-holes and bamboo pots suffered very high mortality rates (an average of 91% in tree-holes and 83.2% in bamboo pots). It was further observed that mortality rates varied monthly. The survivorship curves constructed for the immature stages collected on a daily basis tended to show that a large proportion of the mortality rate was confined to the early instar stages, but the survivorship curves based on the combined data for the 2 years indicated constant mortality rates for all the stages. The high mortality rates of the immature stages of A. africanus appear to be attributed to predation by larvae of Toxorhynchites brevipalpis , with which it shares the same breeding places.