Seasonal surveillance of mosquitoes in three different habitats in Gyeongbuk Province, Republic of Korea, 2017–2019

Abstract

AbstractMosquitoes were collected biweekly from March to November for 3 years (2017–2019) in three different habitats, including a migratory bird refuge, cowshed, and an urban area. Among a total of 22,783 female mosquitoes comprising six genera and 13 species collected for 3 years, Aedes vexans nipponii (56.08%) was the dominant species, followed by Culex pipiens complex (14.26%), Anopheles spp. (11.57%), Culex orientalis (6.90%), Aedes albopictus (4.66%), Armigeres subalbatus (4.06%), and Culex tritaeniorhynchus (1.41%); the remaining six species comprised only 1.1% of all mosquito species collected. In the three habitats, 70.42% of mosquitoes were collected in the migratory bird refuge, whereas 10.68% and 18.90% were investigated in the cowshed and urban areas, respectively. The dominant species were Ae. vexans nipponii in the migratory bird refuge, Anopheles spp. in the cowshed, and Cx. pipiens complex in the urban area. The seasonal distribution of mosquitoes showed that most were obtained between May and September, with bimodal peaks in the third week of June and third week of August. Meteorological analysis revealed a high correlation between temperature and mosquito abundance. In the flavivirus detection analysis, no virus‐transmitting infectious diseases were amplified by PCR, but the Chaoyang virus was found in Ae. vexans nipponii. Considering that global warming is a major risk factor for the spread of vector‐borne diseases and that mosquito has been a fatal vector of infectious disease, our study of surveillance and analysis of seasonal/environmental mosquito population dynamics are essential for public health.