engleski

Mosquitoes of Istria, a contribution to the knowledge of Croatian mosquito fauna (Diptera, Culicidae)

Although Istria was endemic of malaria up to the mid 20th century, the mosquito fauna was studied in detail. Our investigation of mosquitoes in Istria, a very specific region with a highly diverse breeding site types, was conducted in order to gain insight into the mosquito fauna and abundance, as well as to establish the possible presence of new species. The sampling took place from May to September over a seven year period, from 1999 to 2005. Mosquito larvae were trapped in small and medium breeding sites using a net 25 or 10 cm in diameter and dipper. Adult specimens were sampled in both urban and forest areas using CO2 baited CDC traps, and the man-aspirator method for 15 minutes. The research in the area of Istrian peninsula was conducted in 74 sites. We collected 3087 specimens and established the presence of 27 mosquito species. The most abundant mosquito species in the Istrian fauna is Culex pipiens complex 43, 34%, Ochlerotatus sticticus with 9, 55% and Culex hortensis with 9, 32%. The remaining of 24 species have the share of 37, 79%. The largest numbers of species, 12, were recorded in two sites, Motovun and Pula. In other sites we determined from one to ten species, and the distribution of the most abundant species is presented on UTM maps. Our systematic investigation of mosquitoes in Istria, taking into account the specificities of the terrain and favorable climatic conditions, recorded the mosquito fauna of Istria , species distribution and dominance. The fauna includes 27 mosquito species and shoes a great faunistic diversity (54% of the total Croatian mosquito fauna).

fauna ; mosquitoes ; Istria ; Croatia

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