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. 2024 Jan 9;15(1):45.
doi: 10.3390/insects15010045.

Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Fauna of a Zoological Park in an Urban Setting: Analysis of Culex pipiens s.l. and Their Biotypes

Sara Madeira  1   2 , Rui Bernardino  3 , Hugo Costa Osório  4   5 , Fernando Boinas  1   2
Affiliations

Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Fauna of a Zoological Park in an Urban Setting: Analysis of Culex pipiens s.l. and Their Biotypes

Sara Madeira et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) are important emerging diseases that affect humans and animals. Zoological parks can work as early warning systems for the occurrence of MBDs. In this study, we characterized the mosquito fauna captured inside Lisbon Zoo from May 2018 to November 2019. An average of 2.4 mosquitos per trap/night were captured. Five mosquito species potentially causing MBDs, including Culex pipiens biotypes, were found in the zoo. The sympatric occurrence of Culex pipiens biotypes represents a risk factor for the epizootic transmission of West Nile virus and Usutu virus. The mosquito occurrence followed the expected seasonality, with the maximum densities during summer months. However, mosquito activity was detected in winter months in low numbers. The minimum temperature and the relative humidity (RH) on the day of capture showed a positive effect on Culex pipiens abundance. Contrary, the RH the week before capture and the average precipitation the week of capture had a negative effect. No invasive species were identified, nor have flaviviruses been detected in the mosquitoes. The implementation of biosecurity measures regarding the hygiene of the premises and the strict control of all the animals entering the zoo can justify the low prevalence of mosquitoes and the absence of flavivirus-infected mosquitoes.

Keywords: Culex pipiens biotype; Culex pipiens complex; flavivirus; mosquito density; mosquito diversity; mosquito survey; mosquito-borne diseases; urban area; zoological parks.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Seasonality of mosquito occurrence and capture effort by month and year. The number of mosquitoes is represented by the graph bar and can be measured on the y axis. The capture effort is measured by the number of captures, which is represented by the lines in the graph and can be read on the accessory vertical axis. The capture effort was six captures per month, except for October 2019, during which three captures were performed. The number of valid captures was also affected by trap malfunction.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of Culex pipiens biotypes per month.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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