A study on the breeding patterns of Toxorhynchites splendens and Aedes albopictus in the natural environment

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the breeding patterns of Toxorhynchites and Aedesmosquitoes in Kesbewa in the District of Colombo. The number of Ae. albopictus larvaeper tyre dropped markedly with increasing number of Tx. splendens larvae per tyre (Pearsoncorrelation = - 0.588, P<0.05). Ae. albopictus pupae per tyre with a weekly average of 6.7was recorded in the presence of Tx. splendens larvae with a value of 1.7 weekly average.Tx. splendens larvae per tyre per visit showed positive linear correlation with temperature(Pearson correlation = 0.622, P<0.05), negative linear correlation with rainfall (Pearsoncorrelation = -0.521, P<0.05) and there was no linear correlation with relative humidity(Pearson correlation= 0.020, P>0.05). Container Indices (CI) of 50.00% and 12.50% forcement tanks and tyres respectively were recorded for Tx. splendens while the respectivevalues for Ae. albopictus amounted 50.00% and 62.50%. For discarded receptacles andothers such as bird baths the values were respectively 2.45% and 0% for Tx. splendens and27.87% and 50.00% for Ae. albopictus.

Key words : Toxorhynchites splendens, Aedes albopictus