The Abundance and Composition of Endophilic Mosquitoes in the University of Lagos and its Environment

Abstract

A survey of endophilic mosquitoes was carried out in the University of Lagos male hostels (King Jaja Hall, Mariere Hall, Eni-Njoku Hall and Elkanemi Hall) and Abule Oja, an adjoining community to the University. A total of 573 mosquitoes were collected, representing three genera Aedes (Ae.), Anopheles(An.) and Culex. (Cx.) Of the three species collected, Culex quinquefasciatus was the most abundant (90.6%), followed by An. gambiae (5.2%) while Aedes aegypti (4.2%) had the least. Female mosquitoes were more abundant than the male mosquitoes in all the species. Most of the Cx. quinquefasciatus (43.2%) and An. gambiae (40.0%) collected, were fed while 58.3% of Ae. aegypti collected were unfed. The difference in physiological status of the mosquitoes was not statistically significant. None of the female mosquitoes was positive for parasitic infection during dissection. However, despite the zero infectivity observed, the three mosquito species were vectors of many deadly and life-threatening diseases. This therefore highlighted the need to educate the students, resident on the campus and the adjoining communities, on the potential health risks of the mosquitoes and the need to take adequate protective measures against these insect vectors.

Nigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 33 [1] March 2012, pp. 21-25