OCCURRENCE OF TIRE INHABITING MOSQUITO LARVAE IN DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF WEST VIRGINIA

Abstract

Eleven species of mosquito larvae were collected in 568 collection visits to 209 abandoned tire pile sites in 33 West Virginia counties from April through October of 2003. Ochlerotatus j. japonicus supplanted the native Oc. triseriatus as the most common tire-colonizing species in the state. In general, the exotic Oc. j. japonicus was a better colonizer of tires than Oc. triseriatus in peridomestic, sunlit conditions throughout the state, whereas both species were equally likely to colonize tires in nonperidomestic, shaded settings. Aedes albopictus competed effectively with Oc. triseriatus from mid-summer through October in low elevation western counties but was not well represented in central counties of the state. Aedes albopictus was seldom collected at higher elevations in eastern counties. Culex pipiens, like Ae. albopictus, was more likely to be in collections from the western portion of West Virginia throughout the study period. Frequency of occurrence of Cx. restuans peaked in early season collections and declined as the season progressed, but Anopheles punctipennis and the medically unimportant Cx. territans gradually increased in frequency each month through September. Typically, species in the genus Culex and An. punctipennis were predisposed to peridomestic, sunlit habitats. Larvae of the predatory Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis were found mostly in nonperidomestic, shaded settings. This species initially appeared in mid-summer, and by August and September it was found in as many as 30% of the collection sites in western and eastern counties. Larvae of An. barberi, Oc. atropalpus, and Orthopodomyia signifera were poorly represented in collections.