Behavioral resilience of Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823 at Nagpur district of Maharashtra

Authors: Sanjay Karlekar and Raymond Andrew
In Maharashtra state of India, 0.46% population is categorized as active microfilaria carriers perpetuated by the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823. The studies on breeding behavior of this vector species at Nagpur district revealed that it prefers to breed in organically polluted water bodies with alkaline tendency. In laboratory evaluation, although the preference of breeding was observed between the pH of 6.5 to 8.5, but the range between pH 7.5 and 8 was the most preferred values. The vector enters the house for feeding at dusk (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm) and prefers dark undisturbed areas for resting like cupboards, behind doors, toilet, bathrooms, dark articles, roof of cattle sheds adjacent to dwelling, dry grass kept for cattle feeding, wood beams of roof and rooms used for grain storage. Biting occurs from 8:00 pm onwards. During summer, cool places like water tanks, shades near water puddle and cracks of trees were found to be preferred site to rest during the day time.

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