Seasonal and Topographical Factors Affecting Breeding Sites of Culex Larvae in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

This study investigated how the seasons affect the key breeding sites of Culex larvae in three topographical areas: mangrove, rice paddy and mountainous areas. We examined how the number of Culex larvae varied in different types of water containers. Water containers were categorised into the following groups: indoor/outdoor containers, artificial/natural containers, earthen/plastic containers, containers with/without lids and dark/light coloured containers. Samples were collected from 300 households in both the wet and dry seasons from three topographical areas in Nakhon Si Thammarat province with 100 households/topographical area. Culex larvae were found in 19 out of 29 types of water containers in mangrove, rice paddy and mountainous areas. Culex females laid eggs in different container types depending on the season and topographical areas. Culex larvae were found in highest numbers in metal boxes in all three topographical areas and for both wet and dry seasons. The number of positive containers was higher in outdoor containers than indoor containers, artificial containers than natural containers, earthen containers than plastic containers, and dark coloured containers than light coloured containers Furthermore, the number of positive containers was found to be higher in containers without lids than containers with lids. The number of Culex larvae differed among the three topographical areas and between the wet and dry seasons.

ReadCiteExport

Add to List

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Sign up to Zendy

Having issues? You can contact us here