| dc.description.abstract | Insects are the most diversified group in the history of life. Among the various insect
groups, mosquitoes deserve special mention with significant ecological and public
health importance. Mosquito-borne diseases are among the world's leading causes of
illness and death. According to the World Health Organization, more than 300
million clinical cases of mosquito-borne illnesses report each year. In order to
understand the vector dynamics and its disease transmission potentiality, it is
indispensable to study certain fitness components related to the vector globally.
Therefore, understanding the mosquito diversity and exploiting the proximate
mechanisms of host location in mosquitoes will help to reduce their interaction with
human hosts and the management of the transmission of infectious diseases.
The variety of mosquito species, particularly those that serve as vectors, is extremely
high in Kerala. Here, the main mosquito-borne disease vectors that are abundant
throughout the state are widely dispersed. Therefore, comprehensive information of
the prevalence, distribution and biology of mosquitoes in the state would be useful
for managing both present disease outbreaks and potential future outbreaks of
diseases that are not now common in the state. The study area selected for the
analysis was Mananthavady Taluk of Wayanad district, Kerala which is rich with
different types of plantations, forest and urban and rural areas. The present work can
be considered as a pioneer study from this area.
During the study period (2019-2022), a total of 80 species of mosquitoes belonging
to 12 genera in 6 tribes and 2 subfamilies were collected and identified based on
taxonomic keys. The 29 mosquito species among the collected specimens are
mosquito vectors belonging to five genera namely Aedes, Culex, Anopheles,
Mansonia and Armigeres. 21 species of mosquitoes and two genera namely Malaya
and Lutzia are new reports to Kerala. The taxonomy of mosquitoes has been
enhanced by two new records (Uranotaenia sp.) from the region. 35 mosquito species coming under 7 genera were barcoded using marker genes. The
mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (CO I) gene sequences obtained were deposited
in NCBI GenBank for worldwide accession with respective accession numbers
Molecular Phylogeny of Subfamilies Anophelinae and Culicinae were discussed
with the construction of Maximum likelihood tree. 44 species (29 vector species and
15 non vector species) of mosquitoes from five genera namely Aedes, Culex,
Anopheles, Armigeres and Mansonia were chosen for blood meal analysis, and their
host preferences were discussed. Considering that the sensillae are very important
for mosquitoes for the host selection, morphological studies based on the sensillae of
antennae, maxillary palps and proboscis of 19 blood feeding female mosquitoes and
one non blood feeding female mosquitoe (Mal.genurostris) were conducted along
with their host preferences. The findings of the study are highly significant for the
future references and for designing effective prevention and control strategies to
mitigate the public health impact of mosquito-borne diseases. | |
