Authors:

Abstract

Blood feeding nature of mosquitoes associated with livestock field stations are crucial in understanding the vectorborne disease dynamics. We investigated the species composition, abundance and blood feeding pattern of mosquitoes at a livestock field station in Uda Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Monthly samplings were done from six animal units (cattle, swine, duck, sheep, rabbit, and goat) from December 2016 to July 2017 using hand held aspirators, UV light traps and CDC miniature light traps. Blood sources of the mosquitoes were confirmed by PCR assays. Majority of the mosquitoes (82.3 %) were belonged to the Genus Culex followed by Armigeres (7.31%), Aedes (6.70%) and
Anopheles (3.65%). Culex fuscocephala (26.82%) was the most abundant species while Aedes albopictus (0.30%) and Anopheles aitkenii (0.30%) were the least. The highest mosquito abundance was reported from cattle unit (86.9%) followed by swine (12.2%) and duck (0.91 %) units. The highest mosquito abundance and diversity were reported in December (35.97%). No association were reported between climatic variables and mosquito abundance (p>0.05). Mixed blood meals were not reported and mosquitoes of cattle and swine units were identified with 100% cattle and swine blood, respectively. The generalized feeding pattern of the identified mosquitoes suggests the potential vector status of infectious diseases.

Keywords: Mosquito abundance, Livestock field stations, Species composition, Host choice, Blood meal analysis, Feeding pattern