Value of larval samples in estimating frequencies of biting mosquito species diptera culicidae
Utrio, P.
Annales Entomologici Fennici 51(3): 91-96
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-4428
Accession: 006889331
Samples of mosquito larvae and biting female mosquitoes were collected throughout Finland (from 60.degree. N to 69.degree. 30'N) and the species frequencies compared between the two sample sets. In general, the species frequencies in the larval samples coincided with those in the samples of biting adults. Altogether 18 species were encountered, and eight Aedes (Ochlerotatus) species composed the major part of the material (95%). Of these, the frequencies of the five most common species (A. communis, A. punctor, A. pionips, A. cantans and A. hexodontus; 83% of the material) showed a significant correlation between the two sample sets. In the less frequent species the larval samples did not give a reliable indication of the adult frequencies; the reasons are suggested to lie in their phenology or host preference. The predictive value of the larval samples differed in different parts of the country.