The Effect of Physico-chemical Parameters of Selected Breeding Sites on the Abundance of Mosquito Species in Uyo Metropolitan, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
NJE Vol. 41: 200-212, 2025
DOI.10.36108/NJE/5202/14.0151
1Akpan, A. U*., 2Bassey, E. B., 3Ekedo, C. M., 1Esenowo, I. K.,1Ubulom, P. M. E., 1Oboho, D. E., 1Egwali, E. C., 1Umohata, I. A., 3Jonah, U. E., 1Ekpo, E. J., Essien, U. B. and 1Mbata, M. C.
1 Department of Animal and environmental Biology, Faculty of Biological Science, University of Uyo. Uyo. Akwa Ibom state. Nigeria.
2 Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom state. Nigeria
3 Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State. Nigeria
Abstract
Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous vectors of human diseases which cause a serious problem to public health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of physico-chemical parameters of breeding sites on the abundance of mosquito species. Physico-chemical parameters; temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, and total dissolved solids (TSS), of the breeding sites were measured, and mosquito larvae were collected using a standard dipper and plastic containers method from eight (8) breeding sites marked out from four (4) different locations; Ikot Abasi Itam, Nsukara Offot, Mbiaobong Etoi, Nung Oku, and transported to the Entomology Laboratory, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, University of Uyo, and bred to adult. Data collected were analysed using SPSS 20 version and PAST 3.0. The value of pH was from 6.60 to 7.00 with a mean total of 6.8±0.05. The temperature range was from 27.0 to 30.0oC, with a mean total of 27.3±0.95oC. The dissolved oxygen range was from 1.8 to 4.0mg/L, with mean total concentration of 3.4±0.13mg/L. pH, temperature. DO, and conductivity were differently significant between the breeding sampling locations at the significant level of 0.05. A total of 557 adult mosquitoes emerged after breeding and were morphologically identified as Anopheles gambiae (n = 355, 63.73%), A. mucheti (n=44, 7.90%), and Culex sp (n= 158, 28.37%). The correlation results between the mosquito species and the physico-chemical parameters revealed that A. gambiae correlated significantly (r = 0.745, p = 0.05) with DO only. It could be inferred that DO had a positive effect on the abundance of A. gambiae, while there was no effect of pH, temperature, TSS, and conductivity on the abundance of the mosquito species.
Keywords: pH, Temperature, Larvae, Anopheles gambiae, A. mucheti, Culex sp