Mosquito Fauna (Diptera, Culicidae) in Tarhuna Region, Libya

A. S. Khalefa; S. Ghana; N. M. Rashid; T. Shaibi

doi:10.15407/zoo2022.02.111

A. S. Khalefa Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Azzaytuna University, Tarhuna, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2425-0517
S. Ghana Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6274-7500
N. M. Rashid National Centre for Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-1395
T. Shaibi Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7198-5140

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/zoo2022.02.111

Keywords: mosquitoes, larvae, diversity, water habitat, Tarhuna, Libya

Abstract

This study was conducted on mosquito larvae (Diptera, Culicidae) in Tarhuna, Libya during the period from January 2018 to December 2018. It aimed to determine the species diversity of mosquitos’ larvae in Tarhuna. Mosquito larvae were collected by dipper 400 ml from eight water locations (four permanent and four temporary water locations). 4,877 larvae were collected, 3,162 from the permanent aquatic locations and 1,715 larvae from the temporary locations. Seven species of mosquito larvae were recorded: Culiseta longiareolata, Culex perexiguus, Culex theileri, Culex laticinctus, Culex pipiens, Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles sergentii. Cs. longiareolata was the most abundant species of mosquito larva in both permanent and temporary locations. There were temporal differences in the number of larvae of collected species among months. The results of this study showed that these species were recorded for the first time in Tarhuna and some of them are vectors for some diseases.

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