Microsoft Word - 5-Mr Abaei .doc Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 27 Original Article Fauna and Checklist of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of East Azerbaijan Province, Northwestern Iran MR Abai1, *S Azari-Hamidian2, H Ladonni1, M Hakimi1, K Mashhadi-Esmail1, K Sheikhzadeh3, A Kousha3, H Vatandoost1 1 Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Medical Sciences/ University of Tehran, Iran 2 School of Public Health, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran 3 Tabriz Health Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran (Received 14 May 2007; accepted 29 Oct 2007) Abstract In order to study the mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna of East Azerbaijan Province, some samplings were carried out by dipping method for the larvae and hand catch, night biting catch, total catch, and shelter pit collection as well as using window trap for the adults during June, July, and August 2004 plus July and August 2005. In total, 1305 adult mosquitoes and 603 larvae were collected. Seven genera and 15 species were identified in the province including; Anopheles claviger, An. hyrcanus, An. maculipennis s.l., An. pseudopictus, An. sacharovi, An. superpictus, Aedes vexans, Coquillettidia richiardii, Cx. pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Culiseta longiareolata, Cs. subochrea, Ochlerotatus caspius s.l., and Uranotaenia unguiculata. An. maculipennis complex, Cx. pipiens, and Cx. theileri were the most prevalent and widely distributed species. An. pseudopictus, Ae. vexans, and Cq. richiardii are reported for the first time in East Azerbaijan Province and a checklist for the mosquitoes of the province is also presented. Among the mosquitoes of the province, there are many potential vectors of human and domesticated animal pathogens that their ecology needs to be studied extensively. Keywords: Fauna, Iran, Mosquito, Species checklist Introduction The mosquito fauna of Iran includes seven genera, 64 species, and 3 subspecies. The re- cords of 12 other species need to be verified (Azari-Hamidian 2007). By now, five genera and 19 species of mos- quitoes have been recorded in East Azerbaijan Province by different investigators (Beklemishev and Gontaeva 1943, Zolotarev 1945, Kalandadze and Kaviladze 1947, Dow 1953, Minar 1974, Danilov 1975, Saebi 1987, Zaim 1987, Harbach 1988, Vatandoost et al. 2005). Six species of Anopheles Meigen have been recorded in the province (Beklemishev and Gontaeva 1943, Zolotarev 1945, Kalandadze and Kaviladze 1947, Dow 1953, Saebi 1987) including; An. claviger (Meigen), An. hyrcanus (Pallas), An. maculipennis Meigen, An. pseudopictus Grassi, An. sacharovi Favre, An. superpictus Grassi. Of the Maculipennis Group, An. sacharovi has been recorded in the province by Beklemishev and Gontaeva (1943) along with Dow (1953) and An. maculipennis by Zolotarev (1945) plus Dow (1953) based on egg pattern as well as by Djadid et al. (2007) using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique. There is no pub- lished reference about the occurrence of An. pseudopictus in this province (Azari-Hamidian et al. 2006). Kalandadze and Kaviladze (1947) reported Ochlerotatus caspius (Pallas) s.l. and Oc. dorsalis (Meigen) in the province. Oc. dor- salis has not been found in Iran recently. Zaim and Cranston (1986) did not mention this spe- *Corresponding author: S Azari-Hamidian, Tel/Fax: +98 131 3229599, E-mail: azari@gums.ac.ir Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 28 cies in their checklist of Iranian Culicinae. The occurrence of this species in Iran needs to be verified. Dow (1953) reported Uranotaenia un- guiculata Edwards in this province. Zaim (1987) mentioned seven species of Culex L. and three species of Culiseta Felt in the province as follows: Culex modestus Ficalbi, Cx. mimeticus Noe, Cx. perexiguus Theobald, Cx. theileri Theobald, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus Giles, Cx. hort- ensis Ficalbi, Cx. pipiens L., Culiseta longiareo- lata (Macquart), Cs. alaskaensis Ludlow, and Cs. subochrea (Edwards). There is only one recent study on the mosquitoes in the province in relation to malaria and anophelines (Vatan- doost et al. 2005). As mentioned above, the data on the mos- quitoes of East Azerbaijan Province are mostly old and scattered. In order to study the mos- quito fauna and providing a primary checklist, an investigation was carried out in the province. Materials and Methods Study area East Azerbaijan Province is located in northwestern Iran between 39º 26´- 36º 45´ N latitudes and 45º 5´- 48º 22´ E longitudes and has mostly foothill and mountainous areas with an area of approximately 45490 square kilome- ters. The province is bounded by the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the north, West Azerbaijan Province in the west and the south, Zanjan Province in the south, and Ardebil Province in the east. This province formally includes 19 counties. The center of the prov- ince, Tabriz City, is in almost 1360 m above sea level. The average annual rainfall is about 300 mm. The average relative humidity changes are from 44% (12:30 pm) to 67% (6:30 pm). The averages of the maximum and mini- mum temperatures are 17.7 °C and 6.8 °C, re- spectively, and the average temperature is 12.3 °C (these are 30 year data from Tabriz Synoptic Station). The province includes arid and semi- arid climates. The main occupations in rural areas are agriculture and husbandry and in ur- ban, service, business, and industry. Specimen and data collection To study the mosquito fauna, sampling was carried out in East Azerbaijan Province by dipping method for collecting larvae and hand catch, night biting catch on human, cow, and donkey, total catch, and shelter pit collection and using window trap for the adults during June, July, as well as August 2004 and July plus August 2005. The specimens were col- lected from six counties in the different topog- raphical and climatic areas of the province includ- ing: Ahar, Ajabshir, Jolfa, Kaleibar, Maragheh, and Tabriz Counties. In addition, some adult mosquitoes were reared from the pupae. The larvae were preserved in lactophenol and the microscopic slides of the preserved larvae were prepared using Berlese medium. The adult mosquitoes were pinned. The adult specimens and the third and fourth stage larvae were identified using the keys of Shahgudian (1960), Zaim and Cranston (1986), Harbach (1988), and Darsie and Samanidou-Voyadjoglou (1997). Mosquito name abbreviations are cited based on Reinert (2001). Results Totally 1305 adult mosquitoes and 603 lar- vae were collected and seven genera along with 15 species were identified, including; An. claviger, An. hyrcanus, An. maculipennis s.l., An. pseu- dopictus, An. sacharovi, An. superpictus, Aedes vexans (Meigen), Coquillettidia richiardii (Fi- calbi), Cx. pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. tritaenio- rhynchus, Cs. longiareolata, Cs. subochrea, Oc. caspius s.l., and Ur. unguiculata. These species were collected from the mountainous areas of the province on 12 occasions in June-August 2004 and on 11 occasions in July and August 2005. Aedes vexans and Cq. richiardii are recorded for the first time in East Azerbaijan Province and this is the first formal report of An. pseu- dopictus in the province. Uranotaenia unguiculata Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 29 was collected only in the larval stage and Ae. vexans, Cq. richiardii, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, and Cs. subochrea only in the adult stage. Anopheles maculipennis complex, Cx. pipiens, and Cx. theileri were the most prevalent species and collected in almost all of the counties, but An. claviger, An. hyrcanus, An. pseudopictus, Ae. vexans, Cq. richiardii, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cs. subochrea, and Oc. caspius s.l. were collected only in Kaleibar County (Table 1 and 2). Anopheles maculipennis s.l., An. sacharovi, Cx. pipiens, Cx. theileri, and Oc. caspius s.l. were collected by different methods, but An. claviger, An. pseudopictus, and Ae. vexans by hand catch plus night biting catch; An. hyrcanus, An. su- perpictus, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, and Cs. longiareo- lata only by hand catch; and Cq. richiardii along with Cs. subochrea only by night biting catch. Aedes vexans, Cq. richiardii, and Cs. subo- chrea were collected from only outdoors and An. hyrcanus, An. superpictus, Cx. tritaenio- rhynchus, and Cs. longiareolata from only indoors and other species from both indoors and outdoors (Table 3). Composition and localities of the adult mosquitoes collected in this survey are shown in Table 1. Composition and localities of the larvae of mosquitoes collected in this survey are shown in Table 2. The adult mosquitoes col lected by different methods are shown in Table 3. The checklist of mosquitoes of East Azer- baijan Province is given below. Ochlerotatus dorsalis is not mentioned here. As it was ex- plained before the occurrence of this species in Iran needs to be verified (The first and new formal records are shown by*): 1- Anopheles claviger (Meigen, 1804) 2- An. hyrcanus (Pallas, 1771) 3- An. maculipennis Meigen, 1818 4- An. pseudopictus Grassi, 1899 * 5- An. sacharovi Favre, 1903 6- An. superpictus Grassi, 1899 7- Aedes vexans (Meigen, 1830) * 8- Coquillettidia richiardii (Ficalbi, 1889) * 9- Culex hortensis Ficalbi, 1889 10- Cx. mimeticus Noe, 1899 11- Cx. modestus Ficalbi, 1889 12- Cx. perexiguus Theobald, 1903 13- Cx. pipiens Linnaeus, 1758 14- Cx. theileri Theobald, 1903 15- Cx. tritaeniorhynchus Giles, 1901 16- Culiseta alaskaensis Ludlow, 1906 17- Cs. longiareolata (Macquart, 1838) 18- Cs. subochrea (Edwards, 1921) 19- Ochlerotatus caspius (Pallas, 1771) s.l. 20- Uranotaenia unguiculata Edwards, 1913 Table 1. Composition and localities of the adult mosquitoes collected in East Azerbaijan Province during June, July, and August 2004 and July and August 2005 County Species Ahar Ajabshir Kaleibar Maragheh Tabriz No. % An. claviger - - 3 - - 3 0.2 An. hyrcanus - - 1 - - 1 0.1 An. maculipennis s.l. 20 - 266 - 4 290 22.2 An. pseudopictus - - 94 - - 94 7.2 An. sacharovi - - 427 - - 427 32.7 An. superpictus - - 70 - 20 90 6.9 Ae. vexans - - 16 - - 16 1.2 Cq. richiardii - - 1 - - 1 0.1 Cx. pipiens - 23 31 16 12 82 6.3 Cx. theileri 4 48 126 10 5 193 14.8 Cx. tritaeniorhynchus - - 1 - - 1 0.1 Cs. longiareolata - - - 2 47 49 3.7 Cs. subochrea - - 1 - - 1 0.1 Oc. caspius s.l. - - 57 - - 57 4.4 Total 24 71 1094 28 88 1305 100 Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 30 Table 2. Composition and localities of the larvae of mosquitoes collected in East Azerbaijan Province during June, July, and August 2004 and July and August 2005 Table 3. The adult mosquitoes collected by different methods in East Azerbaijan Province during June, July, and August 2004 and July and August 2005 County Species Ahar Ajabshir Jolfa Kaleibar Maragheh Tabriz No. % An. claviger - - - 57 - - 57 9.4 An. hyrcanus - - - 1 - - 1 0.2 An. maculipennis complex 17 - 1 49 20 - 87 14.4 An. pseudopictus - - - 9 - - 9 1.5 An. superpictus - - - - - 28 28 4.7 Cx. pipiens 28 1 - - 20 15 64 10.6 Cx. theileri 51 19 2 2 31 40 145 24.0 Cs. longiareolata 16 - - - - 17 33 5.5 Oc. caspius s.l. - - - 175 - - 175 29.0 Ur. unguiculata 3 - - 1 - - 4 0.7 Total 115 20 3 294 71 100 603 100 Collecting method Night biting catch on Species Hand catch Total catch Shelter pit collection Window trap Human Cow Donkey Rearing pupa An. claviger 2 - - - 1 - - - An. hyrcanus 1 - - - - - - - An. maculipennis s.l. 265 7 16 - - 2 - - An. pseudopictus 8 - - - 84 2 - - An. sacharovi 403 2 12 - 6 4 - - An. superpictus 70 - - - - - - 20 Ae. vexans 4 - - - 6 6 - - Cq. richiardii - - - - 1 - - - Cx. pipiens 12 6 16 1 6 1 - 40 Cx. theileri 5 - 7 1 105 10 2 63 Cx. tritaeniorhynchus 1 - - - - - - - Cs. longiareolata 1 - - - - - - 48 Cs. subochrea - - - - - 1 - - Oc. caspius s.l. 7 - 4 - 18 28 - - Total 779 15 55 2 227 54 2 171 Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 31 Discussion Seven genera and 15 species of mosquitoes were identified from East Azerbaijan Province, including the first record of Ae. vexans, and Cq. richiardii and the first formal report of An. pseudopictus in the province. All six species of Anopheles, which had al- ready been recorded in East Azerbaijan Prov- ince, were also collected in this investigation. However, the occurrence of An. pseudopictus in the province was mentioned only in the unpub- lished documents of the School of Public Health (SPH) and the Institute of Public Health Research (IPHR) as a variety or subspecies of An. hyrcanus (Azari-Hamidian et al. 2006). Some recent investigations mentioned only An. hyrcanus in northwestern Iran (Yaghoobi-Er- shadi et al. 2001, Vatandoost et al. 2005), though many references counted An. pseu- dopictus as the more common species of the Hyrcanus Group in northern Iran (Dow 1953, Minar 1974, Azari-Hamidian et al. 2006). The present study confirms these observations. It seems that those investigations, mentioned An. hyrcanus, referred to the Hyrcanus Group indeed and did not differentiate An. hyrcanus from An. pseudopictus. These species can easily be separated using hindtarsomere 4 in the adult stage (Azari-Hamidian et al. 2006). In this study, these species were differentiated from each other in the larval stage based on seta 2-C using Darsie and Samanidou-Voyadjoglou’s key (1997). This seta is simple in An. pseu- dopictus, but it has some short apical branches in An. hyrcanus. Recently, An. superpictus was mentioned as a complex in Iran (Oshaghi et al. 2004). The biosystematics of this species needs to be studied more in the country. Two species of the tribe Aedini including; Ochlerotatus caspius s.l. and Oc. dorsalis (as a subspecies of Oc. caspius) were recorded in East Azerbaijan Province (Kalandadze and Kaviladze 1947). There is no information about the Oc. caspius sibling species (A or B) in the country (Azari-Hamidian 2007). In this study, Ae. vexans, for the first time, and Oc. caspius s.l. were found in the province. The genus Coquillettidia Dyar, with its unique species Cq. richiardii in Iran, has been found in Mazandaran, Guilan, Ardebil, and probably Kurdistan Provinces (Azari-Hamidian 2007 and Azari-Hamidian, unpublished data). This is the first record of this species in East Azerbaijan Province. Three species of Culex were found in this study (out of seven previously recorded species in the province). Based on Zaim and Cranston’s (1986) key, the larval stages of Cx. pipiens, Cx. torrentium, and Cx. vagans are not distinguish- able from each other, but they can be separated by Harbach’s (1988) key using seta 1-III-V, seta 1-M, seta 1-X, seta 1-C, and some other characters. Among the available specimens from East Azerbaijan Province only Cx. pipiens was identified. Two species of Culiseta, Cs. longiareolata and Cs. subochrea, were found in this investi- gation. Kalandadze and Kaviladze (1947) found both Cs. annulata and Cs. subochrea (as a sub- species of Cs. annulata) in West Azerbaijan Province and Cs. subochrea in East Azerbaijan Province. They mentioned that the record of Cs. annulata in Iran was the first one. Zaim and Cranston (1986) included Cs. annulata in their checklist and Cs. subochrea in their keys. The taxonomy and distribution of these two species need to be investigated more in Iran (Azari- Hamidian 2007). Mosquitoes, especially Anopheles, have been studied in Iran and East Azerbaijan Prov- ince mostly in relation to malaria. There are many potential vectors of human and domesti- cated animal pathogens, such as Ae. vexans, Cx. pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, and Oc. caspius s.l. (Horsfall 1955, Harbach 1988), among the mosquitoes of the province that their ecology need to be studied extensively. In this study several methods of collection were used in different areas of East Azerbaijan Province to show the diversity of the collected mosquito species. However, more mosquito surveillance Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, 2007, 1(2): 27-33 MR Abai et al.: Fauna and Checklist of … 32 is needed in the province to interpret different aspects of their ecology such as composition, prevalence, active season, host preference, and larval habitat. All specimens are deposited in the Medical Arthropod Museum at the School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to M Haghi, Tabriz Health Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, for his cooperation. The authors also wish to thank Dr SM Omrani, Deparement of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences for reviewing the article. 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