Mosquito Abundance Within the San Antonio Zoo

Laura Cruz

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Mosquito-borne illnesses have a significant impact on public health as well as wildlife and captive animals in zoological settings. Most mosquito surveillance is done only in residential areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate mosquito species distribution and abundance within the San Antonio (SA Zoo). Mosquitoes were collected using three different trap types during the summers of 2022 and 2023. Mosquitoes were identified morphologically to species. It was found that the most abundant species was Culex quinquefasciatus followed by Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti in both years. Gravid traps and BG traps captured more mosquitoes than light traps. Finally, in 2022 the highest number of mosquitoes were captured in epi-weeks 42 and 43 and in 2023 it was during epi-weeks 37 and 38. Understanding species diversity and distribution in zoos can help prevent zoonotic transmission of vector-borne diseases to and from the human public.

Comments

Poster Session
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