Anophelinel vectors in car nicobar islands-an area with negligible malaria Khan Zahid Ali, Pulikkottil Sunish Ittoop* Division of Medical Entomology, Regional Medical Research Centre-ICMR, Post Bag No. 13, Dollygunj, Port Blair, 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands *Corresponding author Email: sunish67@gmail.com
Online published on 23 July, 2019. Abstract Anopheline larvae exhibited seasonal variations in their abundance, with per dip density ranging from 0.013± 0.002 to 0.309± 0.088. Peak larval density coincided with high rainfall. The abundance was maximum in breeding sites viz., water storage tanks, kutcha drains, culverts and cess pools with a per dip density of 0.283± 0.070, 0.274± 0.068, 0.260± 0.137 and 0.199± 0.059, respectively. Larval density was maximum in the transient water bodies formed during the monsoon, with early instars (59.71%) being always more compared to the late ones (40.29%). Two species were identified-An. sundaicus (95.8%) and An. barbirostris (3.2%), with the former being found in a wide range of habitats, and the latter always less, which could be the reason for negligible malaria cases. Top Keywords Anopheles sundaicus, An. barbirostris, Car Nicobar Islands, larvae, instars, seasonal abundance, rainfall, water bodies. Top |