Term of Award

Winter 2003

Degree Name

Master of Science

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Department

Department of Biology

Committee Chair

Daniel V. Hagan

Committee Member 1

C. Ray Chandler

Committee Member 2

William S. Irby

Committee Member 3

Oscar J. Pung

Abstract

The six main objectives of this project were: 1) test for levels of West Nile Virus in mosquitoes collected at a Fulton County Recreational Facility, 2) assay various mosquito oviposition attractants on West Nile virus positive female mosquitoes, 3) test effects of distance between mosquito infusion attractants, 4) determine effects of study site location, treatment, and competition distances on mosquito collections, 5) test for any correlation between environmental factors and mosquito abundance, and 6) measure levels of enzymatic insecticide resistance present in species of female mosquitoes that tested positive for the presence of West Nile Virus. Ofthe two species that were collected, only Culex quinquefasciatus females were found to contain West Nile Virus. Of the three oviposition media tested, fescue grass infusion was the most effective for capturing both Cx. quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus females. The distance between the organic media attractants tested did not show any significant effect on attractancy of the media, when analyzed with the variation of location and treatment. A positive correlation was found between minimum air temperature, maximum air temperature, and average air temperature and mean mosquitoes collected A negative correlation was found between mean wind speed and mean mosquitoes collected. No correlation was found between mean dew point or mean precipitation and total mosquitoes collected. Assays of the enzymatic levels in Cx. quinquefasciatus females showed good evidence for presence of the A2B2 amplicon and B1 complex, and thus revealed the presence of insecticide resistance in the sampled mosquito population.

Copyright

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