Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Diversity and Community Structure in Doi Inthanon National Park, Northern Thailand

Abstract

Urbanization and human activities create new suitable aquatic habitats for the immature stages of mosquitoes in many countries. This also applies to Doi Inthanon National Park in northern Thailand, which is named for the highest mountain in the country. Despite its popularity, there is no information regarding mosquito diversity and community structure in the different ecosystems of the park. Monthly collections of immature stages from various habitats were conducted from August 2004 to December 2005 using dipping and sucking methods. The specimens collected from each habitat were reared to adults and identified based on their morphology. Diversity parameters and community structure were statistically analyzed. A total of 140 species (3795 specimens) belonging to 15 genera were identified. Among these, four genera (Culex, Aedes, Anopheles, and Uranotaenia) had high species richness, each represented by 48, 27, 19, and 15 species, respectively. Aedes albopictus was the most relatively abundant species, representing 6.7% of the total number of captured specimens, followed by Tripteroides aranoides (5.6%) and Cx. mimulus (5%). Species richness in natural habitats was significantly higher than in artificial containers. Species richness and abundance were highest in the rainy season. In comparison to agricultural areas and villages, mosquito diversity was found to be higher in forest areas. Ground pools, stream pools, rock pools, bamboo stumps, bamboo internode, and rice fields were the most preferred natural habitats. The results indicate that Doi Inthanon National Park has a high mosquito diversity. Each species exhibits differences in abundance and distribution in different habitats, which is useful information for planning conservation measures and vector control in the park.

Seasonal species composition, abundance and public health importance of mosquito vectors (Diptera: Culicidae) in Huai Tha Khoei Reservoir, Ratchaburi, Thailand

“…When comparing mosquito diversity in the Huai Tha Khoei Reservoir area with other areas in Thailand, it was found that the reservoir area had higher diversity than the coastal areas in Samut Songkhram Province (H′=0.94) (Chaiphongpachara and Sumruayphol 2017) and higher than both the suburban (H′=1.80) and urban areas (H′=2.00) in Nakhon Nayok Province (Thongsripong et al 2013). However, the diversity index in this study area is lower than in areas with forest environments, such as Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai Province (H′=3.81) and rural areas in Nakhon Nayok Province (H′=2.30) (Srisuka et al 2022). Furthermore, compared to other countries in Asia, our study reveals a higher species diversity index than those reported in India (Singh et al 2019;Radhakrishnan et al 2019;Singh et al 2020) and the Koh Kong mangrove forests in Cambodia (Maquart et al 2022).…”

Geometric morphometrics to differentiate species and explore seasonal variation in three Mansonia species (Diptera: Culicidae) in central Thailand and their association with meteorological factors

“…indiana was identified as the dominant species (Thongsripong et al, 2013). This variance can be ascribed to specific geographical and environmental conditions that favour the biology of that mosquito species (Srisuka et al, 2022; Thongsripong et al, 2013). Although there are six species of Mansonia mosquitoes in Thailand, our study did not find three of them: Ma.…”

Biodiversity and Spatiotemporal Variations of Mecoptera in Thailand: Influences of Elevation and Climatic Factors

“…This placement endows Thailand with rich biodiversity, particularly in its flora and fauna [ 27 ]. Insects are especially diverse, with over 10,000 species recorded [ 28 ], and numerous studies have reported on insect diversity, distribution, and community structure within the country [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In the case of Mecoptera, there has been a significant increase in the number of species identified in Thailand over the past five years.…”