Species Composition, Larval Habitats and Co-Occurrence of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Damietta Region, Egypt

The patterns of mosquito species composition in Damietta governorate, northeast Egypt and ecological data are essential in mosquito vector control management. Thus, the current study provided comprehensive data on species composition, abundance and distribution of mosquito larvae in Damietta governorate in addition to the physicochemical properties of mosquito larval habitats, as well as exploring various aspects of mosquito ecology such as co-occurrence and association in the larval habitats. Via the dipping technique, water samples were collected during larval collection (March-December 2019) from seven localities. Water temperature (°C), acidity (pH), salinity (ppt), dissolved oxygen (mg/l), electrical conductivity (µS/cm) and turbidity (NTU) were assessed using standard methods. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between mosquito larval density and habitat characteristics. In total, 35809 mosquito larvae were collected representing 9 species and five genera. The species composition was as follows: Culex antennatus, Cx. pipiens, Anopheles pharoensis, Ochlerotatus caspius, Cx. pusillus, Cx. perexiguus, Culiseta longiareolata, An. Tenebrosus and Uranotaenia unguiculata. The density of Cx. pusillus showed a significant negative correlation with salinity and electrical conductivity but the density of Oc. caspius recordeda highly significant positive correlation with dissolved oxygen. There was a highly significant negative correlation between the density of Ur. unguiculata and turbidity. The highest association was detected between a pair of species, Cx. pusillus and Oc. caspius (0.256).