The Bionomics of Container-breeding Mosquitoes in Ovitraps at the Coconut Plantations in Asajaya and Sadong Jaya of Samarahan Division, Sarawak

• Main Author: Fui, Wong Siew
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2017
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23912/

The ecology of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) was studied at Samarahan Division coconut plantations from December 2011 to November 2012. The main objective of this study was to determine the diversity of mosquito species at the site by using three different types of ovitraps at both coconut plantations. The sites were at two locations with six replications at Asajaya and Sadong Jaya coconut plantations. Ovitrap method was used to sample mosquito larvae and pupae at all the sites. A total of 36 coconuts without flesh ovitraps, 36 coconuts with flesh ovitraps and 36 plastic containers ovitraps were set at both coconut plantations. Water temperature, pH and COD (chemical oxygen demand) were recorded from water samples collected from each ovitraps. The pH and water temperature were constant throughout this study but COD varies with the types of ovitrap used. The data of ambient temperature and relative humidity from both coconut plantations were constant throughout the year. Low rainfall data were recorded during the dry season around the middle of the year. A total of eleven mosquito species were collected from all the ovitraps, namely Aedes albopictus, Ae. albolateralis, Ae. albolineatus, Armigeres confusus, Ar. jugraensis, Ar. malayi, Ar. moultoni, Ar. setifer, Culex fragilis, Toxorhnychites splendens, and Tripteroides denticulatus. Throughout the study, Ae. albopictus was the most abundant mosquito species collected from the plastic container ovitraps as compared to other mosquito species. A total of 1,364 Ae. albopictus was collected from plastic container ovitraps at both coconut plantations during the study. Meanwhile, throughout this study Cx. fragilis was the most abundant mosquito collected from the coconut without flesh ovitraps with a total of 1,743 specimens as compared to plastic container ovitraps and coconut with flesh ovitraps. In this study, the numbers of mosquito species collected were related to the types of ovitraps and environmental conditions surrounding the coconut plantations. The present research allows for an assessment of ivbionomics, density and diversity of mosquito species at Samarahan Division coconut plantations