Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A (2019)

Author(s): Bisu Singh, Jiwan Gurung and Aparajita Chakraborty

Abstract: With the growing urbanization, the number of discarded containers and construction of drains has increased considerably in Gangtok which may provide a conducive breeding habitat for mosquito larva. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the mosquito larval diversity in the artificial breeding habitat of Gangtok. A random sampling was done from the discarded buckets, tanks, tyres, drains at seven different sites during the months of July to October 2017. A total of 247 mosquito larvae was collected from seven sampling sites. The species observed in the different sampling sites were Aedes albopictus, Aedes atropalpus, Ochlerotatus japonicus, Culex pipiens, Culex territans, Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, and Ochlerotatus trivittatus. Among the observed species Ochlerotatus japonicus was found to have the maximum abundance (32%). Correlation analysis tests showed the significant positive correlation between the larval abundance and the volume of water (r=0.94, P=0.002). As per the Shannon-Wiener index, highest diversity was observed at Fifth mile (1.37) and least in Gangtok town (0.44). Pielou’s Evenness index indicated that species were evenly distributed in all the sites except Gangtok town (0.63). Bray-Curtis index revealed the highest species similarity between Ranipool and Tadong (0.82). The present study gives elementary information about the species diversity of mosquitoes in the artificial breeding sites of Gangtok. The presence of potent disease vectors like Culex and Aedes shows the vulnerability of this region for the outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases in the near future as Gangtok is a famous tourist destination.