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Relative abundance of mosquito species in Katsina Metropolis, Katsina State, Nigeria


MD Bunza
AA Suleiman
AM Yusuf
AY Bala

Abstract

A study was conducted on the relative abundance of mosquito species, around selected areas of Katsina metropolis, Katsina State, Nigeria during the months of January, February, April and June 2010. Mosquitoes were collected from five sampling sites: Kofar Durbi, Kofar Kaura, Kofar Marusa, GRA and Layout. These were conveyed in specimen bottles containing 5%
formalin to the Biology Laboratory, Umaru MusaYar.Adua University.Atotal of 1,254 mosquitoes were collected and were identified by viewing under binocular stereo microscope with x40 magnification and compared to pictures of identified mosquitoes reported by Michele and George (1938). The mosquitoes comprised Anopheles gambiae, as the most abundant 553 (43. 3%), followed by Culex pipiens, 336 (26.8%), Anopheles arabiensis with 190 (15. 1%) and lastly Anopheles funestus 175 (13.9%).
There was a significant difference in the relative abundance of mosquitoes with respect to season (p<0.05). Out of the 1,254 mosquitoes collected, 475 (37.8%) were collected in April, 2010, 437 (34.8%) in June, 301 (24.0%) in January and lastly, 41 (3.27%) in February, 2010. Rainy season seemed to have favoured breeding of mosquitoes than dry season. Collection from the different sites showed that 314 mosquitoes (25%) were from Kofar Marusa, followed by 310 (24.7%), from Kofar Durbi,
followed by 271 (21.6%) from Kofar Kaura, followed by 225 (17.9%) fromGRAand lastly 134 (1.1%) from Layout. The results suggest that concerted efforts should be made by stake-holders to reduce the abundance of mosquitoes in the Katsina metropolis to prevent outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases.

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eISSN: 1117-4145