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Haemosporidians, a group of vector-borne parasites that include  Plasmodium , infect vertebrates including birds. Although mosquitoes are crucial elements in the transmission of avian malaria parasites, little is known of their ecology as vectors. We examined the presence of  Plasmodium  and  Haemoproteus  lineages in five mosquito species belonging to the genera  Culex  and  Ochlerotatus  to test for the effect of vector species, season and host-feeding source on the transmission dynamics of these pathogens. We analyzed 166 blood-fed individually and 5,579 unfed mosquitoes (grouped in 197 pools) from a locality in southern Spain. In all, 15  Plasmodium  and two  Haemoproteus  lineages were identified on the basis of a fragment of 478 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome  b  gene. Infection prevalence of blood parasites in unfed mosquitoes varied between species (range: 0–3.2%) and seasons. The feeding source was identified in 91 mosquitoes where 78% were identified as bird. We found that i) several  Plasmodium  lineages are shared among different  Culex  species and one  Plasmodium  lineage is shared between  Culex  and  Ochlerotatus  genera; ii) mosquitoes harboured  Haemoproteus  parasites; iii) pools of unfed females of mostly ornithophilic  Culex  species had a higher  Plasmodium  prevalence than the only mammophylic  Culex  species studied. However, the mammophylic  Ochlerotatus caspius  had in pool samples the greatest  Plasmodium  prevalence. This relative high prevalence may be determined by inter-specific differences in vector survival, susceptibility to infection but also the possibility that this species feeds on birds more frequently than previously thought. Finally, iv) infection rate of mosquitoes varies between seasons and reaches its maximum prevalence during autumn and minimum prevalence in spring.

Avian Plasmodium in Culex and Ochlerotatus Mosquitoes from Southern Spain: Effects of Season and Host-Feeding Source on Parasite Dynamics