Fauna and Larval Habitat Characteristics of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Ardabil Province, Northwestern Iran

Mosquitoes transmit the important diseases such as Malaria, West Nail, Yellow Fever, Dengue fever, Rift Valley Fever, Sand Biz and Dirofilariasis. Sand Biz and Dirofilariasis disease were reported from North regions of Iran. The aim of this study was the determination of fauna and distribution of culicidae family larvae in Ardabil province.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in the year 2016. Thirty-thrre areas were randomly selected from 10 counties. Larvae samples were collected during the seasonal activity of mosquitoes 2 times per month. After the collection of mosquitos, microscopic slides were prepared and identified using valid keys.
In total, 2087 larvae were collected from 33 different areas that included 13 species from 4 genus (Anopheles, Aedes, Culex and Culiseta). Most observed genus were Culex (82%) and the lowest genus were Aedes (2.43%). In this study, Ae.flavisence was reported for first time in the Ardabil province.
The Culex genus was the most common larva collected in this study and Culex Pippins with 59% was the dominant species of Ardabil province.