Relationship of Climatic Variables with Abundance of Indoor Mosquito Genera in Six Communities in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between climate variables and mosquito abundance is an important factor to determine parasite activity levels and disease risk since various mosquito genera are vectors of parasitic diseases. This necessitated the investigation of relationship between climatic variables and mosquito abundance in Ekiti State, Nigeria with reference to six selected communities. Adult mosquitoes were collected indoor for twelve months in these communities using light traps. The abundance of collected mosquitoes was related with climatic variables (rainfall, relative humidity and temperature). One thousand two hundred and seventeen (1217) adult mosquitoes were collected indoor in all the communities. The population of the mosquito genera was significantly higher (P=0.01) in rainy season than dry season. Average rainfall showed a strong relationship (R2= 0.751) with Anopheles abundance but relationship was weak for both Culex (R2= 0.236) and Aedes (R2= 0.042). The relationship of relative humidity and average temperature with abundance of mosquito genera was generally weak. Since the abundance of mosquito genera was higher in all the communities during rainy season than dry season it will be more appropriate to control mosquitoes in the communities during the rainy season.