ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Nationalpark Donauauen - Wissenschaftliche Reihe Jahr/Year: 2013 Band/Volume: 28 Autor(en)/Author(s): Zittra Carina Artikel/Article: Species inventory, ecology and seasonal distribution patterns of Culicidae (Insecta: Diptera) in the National Park Donau-Auen 1-80 ©Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH, download www.biologiezentrum.at Heft 28/2013 Species inventory, ecology and seasonal distribution patterns of Culicidae (Insecta: Diptera) in the National Park Donau-Auen Die Stechmückenfauna (Culicidae) des Augebietes bei Orth an der Donau wurde 2011 erhoben um die ökologischen Ansprüche der Stechmücken an ihre Bruthabitate zu untersuchen und die Lebenszyklen der abundanten Arten zu rekon- struieren. Carina Zittra ©Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH, download www.biologiezentrum.at 1 Table of contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Material and Methods ......................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Study area ...................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Sampling sites ................................................................................................................................ 6 2.2.1. Fadenbach (F1, F2 and F3) ..................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Große Binn and Kleine Binn (GB1, KB1 and KB2) .................................................................. 9 2.2.3. Wachtelgraben .................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.4 Tree Holes (PT1-PT6) ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2.5 Temporary stagnant water bodies (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) .................................................. 14 2.3.2 Artificial Pond ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Methods and sampling design .................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Sampling design and preservation of Culicidae .................................................................... 18 2.3.2 Sampling design of habitat parameters ............................................................................... 19 2.3.3 Laboratory rearings .............................................................................................................. 19 2.3.4. Measurement of head capsule width and body length ...................................................... 19 2.3.4. Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................... 19 2.4 Identification of Culicidae ............................................................................................................ 20 2.4.1. Standard identification characteristics of mosquito larvae ................................................ 20 3.4.2. Standard characteristics of pupal mosquitoes .................................................................... 22 3.4.3. Standard characteristics of immature males and females .................................................. 23 3. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Species inventory, abundance and phenology ............................................................................ 25 3.1.1 Anopheles maculipennis complex ........................................................................................ 26 3.1.2 Anopheles (Anopheles) plumbeus (Stephens 1828) ............................................................. 27 3.1.3 Aedes (Aedes) cinereus (Meigen 1818)/ rossicus (Dolbeskin, Goritzkaja & Mitrofanova 1930) (Figure 19) ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.4. Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans (Meigen 1830) ...................................................................... 29 3.1.5 Ochlerotatus (Finlaya) geniculatus (Olivier 1791) ................................................................ 29 3.1.6 Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) cantans (Meigen 1818) /annulipes (Meigen 1830) ................ 31 3.1.7 Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) cataphylla (Dyar 1916) ........................................................... 32 3.1.8 Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) excrucians (Walker 1856) ....................................................... 32 3.1.9 Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) flavescens (Müller 1764) ........................................................ 32 3.1.10 Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) sticticus (Meigen 1838) ........................................................ 33 ©Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH, download www.biologiezentrum.at 2 3.1.11 Ochlerotatus (Rusticoidus) rusticus (Rossi 1790) ............................................................... 33 3.1.12 Culex (Culex) pipiens (Linnaeus 1785) ................................................................................ 33 3.1.13 Culex (Neoculex) territans (Walker 1856)........................................................................... 34 3.1.14 Culiseta sp. (Felt 1904) ....................................................................................................... 35 3.1.15 Coquilletidia (Coquilletidia) richiardii (Ficalbi 1889) ........................................................... 36 3.2 Life cycles ..................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3 Microhabitat characteristics ........................................................................................................ 42 4. Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 49 4.1 Sampling methods ....................................................................................................................... 49 4.2 Species inventory, abundance and phenology ............................................................................ 50 4.4 Life cycles ..................................................................................................................................... 52 4.5 Microhabitat characteristics ........................................................................................................ 54 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 59 Zusammenfassung ................................................................................................................................. 60 References ............................................................................................................................................. 61 Index of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 74 Index of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... 75 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 77 Tables ................................................................................................................................................ 77 ©Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH, download www.biologiezentrum.at 3 1. Introduction More than 3,500 mosquito species have been recorded worldwide and more than 40 species are known to be endemic in central Europe (Becker et al. 2010). In Austria, the Culicidae inventory consists of 39 published species belonging to 6 genera (Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Coquillettidia, Culiseta and Uranotaenia) (Mohrig & Car 2002); since then three further species (Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) nigrinus (Eckstein 1918), Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse 1894) and Anopheles (Anopheles) hyrcanus (Pallas 1771)) were reported by Seidel 2012) and Walter (2011). Culicidae are endopterygotic insects belonging to insect order Diptera. They are divided into two subfamilies: Anophelinae and Culicinae (Fauna Europaea, 2011). Culicidae are mainly known as vectors for many medically important pathogens and parasites like viruses, bacteria, protozoans and nematodes and as transmitters of diseases like malaria, chikungunya, dengue and west nile fever and filariaris, among others (Eldridge & Edman 2000; Clements 2012; Becker et al. 2010). After the disappearance of endemic malaria in Austria in 1950 (Wernsdorfer 2002), there was a lack of interest in mosquito research, both in medical and natural sciences, although potentially culicid malaria vectors like Anopheles (Anopheles) maculipennis and Anopheles (Anopheles) claviger (Wernsdorfer 2002) are still present in Austria. Mosquito species distribution patterns and their ecology gain importance again, because global change favours the