Hossain M.¹ , Bashar K.² , Rahman K.M.Z.² , Razzak M.A.² , Howlader A.J.²

1. Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Savar, Dhaka 1349, Bangladesh
2. Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2015, Vol. 5, No. 8   doi: 10.5376/jmr.2015.05.0008
Received: 02 Feb., 2015    Accepted: 18 Apr., 2015    Published: 18 Jun., 2015

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.

Hossain M., Bashar K., Rahman K.M.Z., Razzak M.A., and Howlader A.J., 2015, Biting rhythms of selected mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) in Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, Journal of Mosquito Research, Vol.5, No.8 1-5 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2015.05.0008)

In Bangladesh, a number of important pathogens are transmitted by mosquitoes; however, at the present time, relatively little is known about the daily biting activity of most species of mosquitoes. Given that avoidance may be a viable option to decrease exposure to infected mosquitoes, we conducted a study to determine the biting patterns for mosquitoes during the 12 hour period from 18h00 to 06h00. Host-seeking mosquitoes which landed on the exposed legs and hands were collected using a mouth aspirator. Mosquitoes were continuously collected during the first 50 minutes of each hour and rested for the remaining 10 minutes. The hourly catches of mosquitoes were kept in labeled cups according to the hour of collection. A total of 711 mosquitoes from three genera and seven species were collected. Four species belonged to Culex, two to Mansonia and one to Armigeres. Among the collected species, six were recognized as vectors of pathogens in Bangladesh including the vectors of filariasis [Culex quinquefasciatus (56.54%), Mansonia uniformis (15.75%), Mn. annulifera (12.38%), and Armigeres subalbatus (4.64%)] and Japanese encephalitis [Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (7.17%), and Cx. vishnui (1.55%)]. One non-vector species of mosquito, Cx. hutchinsoni (1.97%), was also collected during the study. In general, biting commenced just after sunset, increased gradually, peaked between 24h00 and 01h00 and decreased to the lowest level between 05h00 and 06h00. The biting densities of mosquitoes ranged from 9.1 mosquitoes per men hour (mph) in July to 16.5 mph in May, with an overall average of 11.85 mph. The highest and lowest biting density was found in May and July respectively. Biting activity of various vector species differed during different hours in the night. Use of personal protection methods should be encouraged during the peak biting times to minimize vector-host contact.

Mosquitoes; Biting rhythm; Bangladesh