Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026
Maintaining Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Infected with Wolbachia
Published on: August 14, 2017
Increased container-breeding mosquito risk owing to drought-induced changes in water harvesting and storage in
Brendan J Trewin1, Brian H Kay, Jonathan M Darbro
1Mosquito Control Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia.
Background:
Extended drought conditions in south-east Queensland during the early 2000s have resulted in a culture of water harvesting and legislated water restrictions. Aedes notoscriptus is a container-breeding mosquito vector of Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses.
Methods:
From 2008-2009, the larval habitats and seasonal abundance of domestic container-breeding mosquitoes were recorded from three suburbs of Brisbane. A knowledge, attitudes and practice questionnaire was administered to householders. A low-cost, desktop methodology was used to predict the proportion of shaded premises compared with front-of-property estimates.
Results:
We highlight changes in the frequency of container categories for A. notoscriptus as a response to human behavioural changes to drought. Garden accoutrements, discarded household items and water storage containers accounted for 66.2% (525/793) of positive containers and 77.5% (73 441/94 731) of all immature mosquitoes. Of all household premises surveyed, 52.6% (550/1046) contained rainwater tanks and 29.4% (308/1046) harvested water in other containers, contrasting with a previous 1995 survey where neither category was observed. Both Premise Condition Index and shade directly correlated with positive premises.
Conclusions:
Human response to drought has resulted in new habitats for domestic container-breeding mosquitoes. This recent trend of prolific water storage is similar to earlier years (1904-1943) in Brisbane when Aedes aegypti was present and dengue epidemics occurred.
