Studies on the anopheline fauna of Kheda district and species specific breeding habitats

Information on anopheline fauna of Kheda district in Gujarat dates back to 1950. Since then there have been vast ecological changes due to development projects and intensive irrigation. To study the anopheline fauna of Kheda district collections from 164 villages representing 7 talukas of the district were made. Sixteen anopheline species were recorded, of these 8 species were recorded for the first time. Maximum number of anopheline species (16) were recorded from canal irrigated area followed by 11 species from riverine area and 10 species from non-canal irrigated area. Four anopheline species namely An. subpictus, An. culicifacies, An. annularis and An. stephensi were predominant and constituted 99.9% of the total anophelines and rest of the 12 species accounted for 0.1%. In this paper, results of the study on mosquito ecology with particular emphasis on species specific breeding preferences, associations and frequency of distribution in various types of aquatic habitats have been reported.