Survey of mosquitoes in open and closed larval habitats in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Mosquitoes are small slender bodied insects that feed on man and other animals for blood meals. They are widely distributed in both tropical and temperate regions of the world. Mosquitoes are strongly attracted to humans and are especially adapted to breeding in places created by human activities. Methods: Survey of mosquito larvae in both open and closed habitats was carried out in Aguleri between the months of March and June, 2014. Random sampling method was used in selecting the communities surveyed as well as the identified breeding sites in the study area. Collection of mosquito larvae was done with either the use of larval net or dipper method depending on the nature of the habitat encountered. Open habitats where mosquito larvae were collected included ground pools, gutter, domestic water containers, other containers that can hold water and banks of rivers and streams. The closed habitats where mosquito larvae were collected included toilets/bathroom floors and broken septic tanks. Results: A total of four hundred and twenty nine mosquito larvae belonging to three different genera were identified in the study area. They included:  Aedes aegypti  (39.9%),  Ae. albopictus  (19.6%),  Ae. circumlutoelus  (1.2%),  Anopheles gambiae  (18.9%),  An. funestus  (1.4%),  An. moucheti  (1.6%),  Culex quinquefasciatus  (13.1%) and  Cx. tigripes  (4.4%). In open larval habitat, the three genera of mosquitoes identified were present whereas in the closed habitat, only two genera (Culex and Aedes) were present. Also, all the eight different species of mosquito collected were found in the open larval habitat; only two species ( Aedes aegypti  and  Culex quinquefasciatus ) were identified in the closed habitat. The equitability or evenness of individuals' distributions among the three genera collected in the survey is relatively high (ED=0.75). However the distribution of the species is not even (ED=0.49).  Ae. aegypti  and  Ae. albopictus  tend to be more abundant and use almost all the breeding sites encountered. Conclusion: This is a useful indicator of the risk of mosquito borne diseases transmission in the study area. The information provided by this research would be helpful in planning and implementation of larval control approach as a method of mosquito control. This is because the breeding sites identified favour the survival of one or more species of mosquito.