Mosquito diversity and their larval habitats from the northern part of West Bengal

Abstract

Mosquitoes are the members of the Culicidae family under the order Diptera. In recent years, West Bengal has been fighting a number of mosquito borne diseases. North Bengal refers to the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch-Behar, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipuduar and Kalimpong. This review compiles an up-to-date list of all mosquito species reportedly found in the Northern part of West Bengal providing information on their larval habitat and it will also serve as a reference for future research. A total of 50 different mosquito species belonging to 8 different genera have been recorded in this area. The majority of the recorded species are belonging from the genus Anopheles. In the other hand genus Toxorhynchites and Orthopodomyia are accounted for the least number of species. Immature mosquitoes were reported from various lentic aquatic habitats. The cemented tanks had the greatest number of species, followed by the temporary pools, ground pool and tree holes.