Investigation on the Mosquito Fauna of Shoreline Habitats of Orissa Coast, India  

Swetapadma Dash1 , R.K. Hazra2 , Satpal Singh Bisht3
1. Zoological Survey of India, EBRC, Gopalpur-On-Sea-761002, Orissa, India
2. RMRC, ICMR, Nalco Squre, Bhubaneswar, India
3. Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University, Aizwal, India
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2014, Vol. 4, No. 20   doi: 10.5376/jmr.2014.04.0020
Received: 31 Oct., 2014    Accepted: 12 Nov., 2014    Published: 30 Dec., 2014
© 2014 BioPublisher Publishing Platform
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Dash et al., 2014, Investigation on the Mosquito Fauna of Shoreline Habitats of Orissa Coast, India, Journal of Mosquito Research, Vol.4, No.20 1-5 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2014.04.0020)

Abstract

Mosquito faunatic studies were carried out in selected coastal villages of Odisha. Two thousand mosquitoes belonging to 22 species under 6 genera were collected from twelve villages of Puri and Khurda Districts of Orissa. The present investigation deciphered the dominance of Culicine mosquito species (65.59%) in the coastal districts of Orissa. The study proved the dominance of Anopheles subpictus comprising 22.73% of all mosquito population studied and about 65.6% of the overall Anophelines fauna follwed by Anopheles vagus which is dominated by 10.03%. Culex. quinquefasciatus Say and the C. vishnui Theobald group are the common Culicines comprising 17.55% and 10.03% respectively. The species of Armegeres group are also equally prevalent as the Genus Culex. Shanon diversity index of the mosquito species of the two districts has been studied. Khurda District was significantly higher than the diversity in the mosquito community of Puri District of Odisha, India. The changes in mosquito fauna observed from the Orissa coastal area and Chilika Lake are due to the major ecological changes, extensive use of insecticides and development in agricultural practices, industrial development, natural calamities like severe cyclones, after effects of tsunami.

Keywords
Shoreline; Culicine; Shanon diversity index; Diversity

Mosquito fauna known from the world comprises 3,500 species that are tradionally classified in to three subfamilies viz. Anophelinae, Culicinae and Toxorhynchitinae under the family Culicidae of the Order Diptera (Insecta). Taxonomic studies of the mosquito fauna of Indian subcontinent were extensively studied by Barraud (1934), Christophers (1933) and their monumental works led to Nagpal and Sharma (1995) updating 320 species of mosquitoes in 37 genera so far reported from India. The mosquito fauna of Orissa state was studied by Fry (1912), Nagpal and Sharma (1983), Dash et al. (2000). However, Rajavel et al. (2005 a, b) has reported recently 74 species belonging to 12 genera and 20 subgenera from Jeypore Hill tracks of Orissa and 43 species belonging to 21 subgenera and 13 genera from mangroves of Bhiterkanika. Keeping in view of the prevalence of mosquito borne diseases in Orissa, an attempt has been made here to document the diversity of mosquitoes inhabiting theshoreline habitats ofSouth Orissa coast.

The state of Orissa, the south eastern coastal state of India, is located between 17.49' N and 22.34' N and 81.27' E and 87.29' E .It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the north east; Madhya Pradesh on the west and Andhra Pradesh on the south. The land area of the state covers 155,707 sq. kms, with a coast line of over 450 kms. On the basis of physiographical characteristics, the state has been divided into five major morphological regions viz. the Orissa Coastal Plain in the east, the Middle Mountainous and highlands, the Central plateaus, the Western rolling uplands and the major flood plains. The coastal belt of the state extends from the River Subarnarekha near West Bengal border in the north to the River Rushikulya in the south near the border of Andhra Pradesh. Several deltas of varied sizes and shapes are formed by the major rivers of Orissa, such as the Subarnarekha, the Budhabalanga, the Baitarani, the Brahmani, the Mahanadi, and the Rushikulya. Therefore, the coastal plain of Orissa is also known as "Hex deltaic Region" or the "Gift of Six Rivers". In addition, the largest brackish water lake of Asia, the Chilika is located between 85020’ E and 19040’ N, and is connected to the Bay of Bengal by a narrow channel 32 km long. These extensive river systems and the lakes are home of diverse faunal groups such as mosquitoes that are adapted to survive in varied habitats like ponds, puddles, tree holes, swamps and salt marshes.
A taxonomic account of 22 species under 6 genera were actually collected and studied from twelve villages of Puri and Khurda Districts from 55 mosquito species under 12 genera, 17 subgenera and 3 tribes occurring coastal districts of Orissa is presented in this study along with some observations on their ecology and distribution. The species of mosquitoes which are actuallycollected in the present survey marked with asterisk.
1 Materials and Methods
1.1 Topography
The state of Orissa is located on the East coast of India in between 17o 48’ and 22 o 34’ North latitude and 81o 24’ and 87o 29’ East longitude.Puri and Khurda are two districts on south coast of Orissa comprises of. The two coastal Districts has following latitudes and longitudes ; Puri 19° 48' N, 85° 52 ' E, Khurda, 20° 11' N, 85° 40' E.

1.2
Sample Collection
Random sampling made during the period from January 2006 to September 2007 from different localities of coastal Villages located in two coastal districts (Figure I). Mosquitoes were collected by employing simple standard techniques from indoor and outdoor habitats of the human habitations and also from cattle sheds. Samples were also collected during dawn and dusk while mosquitoes suck blood from their host. Biting collections were made during dawn and dusk. Pyrethrum spray was done for total mosquito collection from human dwellings. The knocked down specimens were collected over a white cloths sprayed in the room by picking with the help of a fine forceps and transferred to the collection tubes to avoid breaking of legs. Suction tube was also used to collect the live mosquitoes from and outdoor resting mosquitoes. Resting adult mosquitoes were collected from the shrubs around the cattle sheds and human dwellings, paddy fields, and nearby forest areas. The mosquito samples were identified by using the keys developed of Christophers 1933, Barraud, 1934, Rao, 1984 and Nagpal.


Figure I Collection sites,Puri and Khurda District,Odisha,India

1.3
Data analysis
Species diversity is represented through species richness(S), Shanon index (H) and Shanon evenness (Es). The Shanon index is given by H=∑pilnpi, where pi is the proportion of individuals found in the i th species an lndenotes the natural logarithm. Another way to assess diversity was by performing the SHE analysis values like S=Species richness, H=Shanon index diversity, and E=evenness (Buzas & Hayek, 1996 and Hayek & Buzas, 1997, 1998). The MHD (Man hour density) of the mosquito fauna of two coastal districts were also been calculated.

1.4 List of mosquito species recorded from the orissa coast

1. Anopheles (Anophilis) aitkenii James
2. Anopheles (Anopheles) nigerimus Giles*.
3. Anopheles(Anopheles) sinensis Wiedemann
4. Anopheles(Cellia) aconitus Donitz*
5. Anopheles(Cellia) annularis Van der Wulp*
6. Anopheles (Cellia) culicifacies Giles*
7. Anopheles(Cellia) fluviatilis James
8. Anopheles (Cellia) jeyporiensis James
9. Anopheles (Cellia) karwari (James)
10. Anopheles (Cellia) maculatus Theobald*
11. Anopheles (Cellia) majidi Young and Majid
12. Anopheles (Cellia) minimus Theobald
13. Anopheles (Cellia) moghulensis Christophers
14. Anopheles (Cellia) pallidus Theobald
15. Anopheles (Cellia) ramsayii Covell
16. Anopheles (Cellia) splendidus Koidzumi*
17. Anopheles (Cellia) subpictus Grassi*
19. Anopheles (Cellia) tessellates, Theobald
20. Anopheles (Cellia) theobaldi Giles*
21. Anopheles (Cellia) vagus Donitz*
22. Anopheles (Cellia) varuna, Iyengar*
23. Toxorhynchites (Toxorhynchites) splendens (Wiedemann)
24. Aedes (Aedimorphus) caecus (Theobald)
25. Aedes (Cancraedes) cancricomes Edwards
26. Aedes (Diceromyia) iyengari Edwards
27. Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse)*
28. Aedes (Stegomyia) imitator (Leicester)
29. Aedes (Stegomyia) novalbopictus Barraud
30. Aedes (Stegomyia) vittatus (Bigot) *
31. Aedes (Stegomyia) w-albus (Theobald)
32. Armigeres(Armigeres) subalbatus (Coquilett) *
33. Armigeres (Armigeres) theobaldi*
34. Culex (Culex) bitaeniorhynchus Giles
35. Culex (Culex) cornutus Edwards
36. Culex (Culex) fuscocephalus Theobald
37. Culex (Culex) gelidus Theobald
38. Culex (Culex) mimulus Edwards
39. Culex (Culex) quiquefasciatus Say*
40. Culex (Culex) sinensis Theobald
41. Culex (Culex) sitiens Wiedemann
42. Culex (Culec) tritaeniorhynchus Giles
43. Culex (Culex) vishnui Theobald*
44. Culex (Culex) whitei Barraud
45. Culex (Culex) whitmorei (Giles)
46. Ficalbia (Ficalbia) minima (Theobald)
47. Heizmannia (Heizmannia) chandi Edwards
48. Mansonia (Manasonioides) annulifera (Theobald) *
49. Mansonia (Manasonioides) dives (Scheiner) *
50. Mansonia (Manasonioides) indiana Edwards*
51. Mansonia (Manasonioides) uniformis (Theobald) *
52. Ochlerotatus (Finalaya) niveus (Ludlow)
53. Ochlerotatus (Rhinoskusea) longirostris(Leicester)
54. Ochlerotatus (Rhinoskusea) portonovoensis (Tewari and Hiriyan)
55. Uranotaenia (Pseudoficalbia) atra Theobald
2 Results and Discussions
The present study deals with 57 species of mosquitoes under 12 genera earlier reported fromcoastal Orissa out of which over 2000 mosquitoes belonging to 22 species under 6 genera were actually collected and studied from twelve villages of Puri and Khurda Districts of Orissa. The study proved the dominance of Culicine mosquito species (65.59%) in the coastal districts of OrissaRao (1984) remarked that among the Indian Anopheline fauna, Anopheles subpictus Grassi complex is predominant along the coast. The present studies also proved the dominance of Anopheles subpictus, comprising 22.73% of all mosquito population studied and about 65.6% of the overall Anophelines fauna. The second species Anopheles vagus is dominated by 10.03%. The species of C. quinquefasciatus Say and the C. vishnui Theobald group are the common Culicines comprising 17.55% and 10.03% respectively. The species of Armegeres group are also equally prevalent as the Genus Culex.
The other species recorded in this study are Anopheles maculates, Anopheles splendidus, Anopheles theobaldi, Anopheles acconitus, Anopheles nigerimus, Armegeres subalbatus, Manasonia annulifera, Manasonia indiana, Manasonia longipalpis, Mansonia uniformis, Aedes vittatus, Aedes albopictus, Coquillettidia. The district wise species composition of Mansonioides shows that it (which species) is dominant in coastal areas like Puri district (Hazra and Dash, 1998). Although M. uniformis, M. annulifera and M. indiana have been found throughout the districts but M. longipalpis is exclusively found in coastal belts. Diversity of mosquito fauna of Puri and Khurda Districts of Orissa are shown in Figure 1 and 2 respectively.


Figure 1 Diversity of mosquito fauna of Puri District (2006-07)


Figure 2 Diversity of mosquito fauna of Khurda District (2006-07)

To measure the species diversity of the mosquito species of the two districts, Shanon diversity index has been used. From the present investigation it is clear that the mosquito species diversity (H) (Figure 3 and 4) in the Khurda District was significantly higher than the diversity in the mosquito community of Puri District, India.


Figure 3 Species diversity of the Anophelines and Culicines of Puri District


Figure 4 Species diversity of the Anophelines and Culicines of Khurda District

The TMHD (Per Ten men hour Density) for both the districts, mosquito species has been calculated and is summarized in Table 1. The present findings show highest value for
Anopheles subpictus (46.87) followed by the Armigeres (A) subalbatus (36.25)  The well-recognized malaria vectors Anopheles culcifacies, An. annularis are represented by less than 1%. The Anopheles culcifacies and An. annularis represent 0.15% and 0.3% respectively in the total sample. The species of Man. indiana and Man. longipalpis have not been reported earlier but are now recorded from the areas of Chilika Lake. Filarial vector diversity of the coastal districts is very low than thatof the diversity of culicine mosquitoes (Hazra and Dash, 1998) but the recent study shows the increase in diversity of filarial vector in the same districts. The low rate of diversity has been shown by Shanons index in Puri District. Seven Anopheles species e.g. An. barbirostris, An. fluviatilis, An. jamesii, An. jeyporiensis, An. karwari, An. philippinensis, An. sundaicus found in the previous studies (Covell and Singh, 1942) are not found during the present study. The disappearance of the species An. sundaicus also detected during the Chilika fauna study by Dash et al. (2000).


Table1 Per ten men hour density (TMHD) of the mosquitoes collected from the surroundings of Chilika Lake during 2006-07

The changes in mosquito fauna observed from the Orissa coastal area and Chilika lake may be associated with the major
ecological changes, extensive use of insecticides and development in agricultural practices, industrial development, natural calamities like severe cyclones, after effects of tsunami etc.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and Director, RMRC, Bhubaneswar.
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