Mosquitoes (Diptera:culicidae) in Irrigated Areas of Southern Alberta and Their Seasonal Changes in Abundance and Distribution

Abstract

More than 95% of the mosquitoes in southern Alberta develop in waste irrigation water. Sixteen species of four genera in the subfamily Culicinae were identified, namely, Anopheles earlei, Culex tarsalis, Culiseta inornata, Culiseta a2askaensis, Aedes vexans, A . cinereus, A . dorsalis, A . campestris, A . spencerii, A.jlauwcens, A . m i~o m a c n l i s , A . riparius, -4. stictictu, A. i n t r h s . A. cnbaphylb, A. mdaximm; and two species in the subfamily Chnoborinae, nameIy, Chanbnvvs am~rimnus and C. Jlnrqlcans. Weekly irrdex of the ntiml,er of larvae and pupae as the average numl~er per dip multiplicrl by the area in square yards, and total weeklv trap catches of adults of the seven moqt common species were comp~~ted for each of three irrigation difiricts, representing distinctly different farming prartice.9. Adults were more numcrorts in a sheltered than in a n own site, the males noticeably more so than the females. Moquitocc were more abundant in the older than in the newer irrigated districts, and improper farming and watermanagement practices favored irlcrease in n~i~ttbesu, even in weI1-planned irrigation districts.'Manuscript received August 7,1959. Contribution from the Veterinary-Medical Entomology Section, Canada Agriculture Research Station, Lethbridge, Alberta; from a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Alberta, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.Sc. degree, 1958.

Species Abundance and Seasonal Activity of Mosquitoes on Cattle Facilities in Southern Alberta, Canada

“…inornata making up 7Ð12% of the mosquitoes captured. Comparisons between our results and those reported by Shemanchuk (1959Shemanchuk ( , 1969 and Shemanchuk et al (1963) can be summarized as follows. Four of the Þve major species we captured at feedlots were among the most common in previous studies.…”

“…All 2 values are signiÞcant at P Ͻ 0.0001. dance at that location. Overall, we identiÞed 14 species in common with those reported by Shemanchuk (1959), three rare species not reported (Ae. provocans, Ae.…”

“…Predicted start dates averaged 4 Ð9 d earlier than observed, whereas predicted end dates averaged 0 Ð 4 d longer than observed. Shemanchuk (1959) used larval collections and visual attraction traps to identify 16 species of mosquitoes in southern Alberta. Of these, seven were sufÞ-ciently numerous to be considered pests and in order of abundance were Ae.…”

“…This includes which species are present in an area, what temperatures they are active at, and the seasonality of the vector. Studies on mosquito fauna and their host range were conducted in southern Alberta during the late 1950s through the 1970s (Shemanchuk 1959(Shemanchuk , 1969Shemanchuk et al 1963). Larval mosquito populations were surveyed in the southern Alberta, Canada, during 1976Ð1978 (ScholeÞeld et al 1981.…”

Mosquitoes of Manitoba: Iii. Ecology of Larvae in the Winnipeg Area

“…vexans and other mosquitoes in southern Alberta. In an earlier paper by Shemanchuk (1959), no significance was attachcd to the proximity of cattle to large populations of mosquito larvae. In the 1959 paper, Shemanchuk mentions that the major enterprise in the Rolling Hills area was livestock production, while in the Hays and Taber areas, the major enterprises were cereal crop and row crop farming respectively.…”