ECOLOGY OF ARBOVIRUSES IN A MARYLAND FRESHWATER SWAMP

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Abstract
Saugstad, E. S., J. M. Dalrymple and B. F. Eldridge (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Wash., D.C. 20012). Ecology of arboviruses in a Maryland freshwater swamp. I. Population dynamics and habitat distribution of potential mosquito vectors. Am J Epidemiol 96: 114–122, 1972.—Entomological aspects of arbovirus ecology were studied in the Pocomoke Cypress Swamp in eastern Maryland. During 1969 nearly 350,000 adult and 10,000 larval mosquitoes were collected in the swamp and surrounding areas. Aedes canadensis, Culiseta melanura, Culex salinarius and A. cantator accounted for 89% of the total adult catch. Analyses of variance of the capture rates of adults of these species demonstrated highly significant differences in capture rates between five habitats (based on vegetative differences) sampled for three out of the four species, but no significant differences between collection sites within the same habitats. In some instances, interhabitat differences in adult density were related to differences in suitable larval breeding sites; in other cases differences appeared related to the availability of suitable hosts for blood feeding. Population peaks of several species of mosquitoes coincided with the peak of virus activity in the swamp, but Culiseta melanura was the only species from which a group A virus was isolated. Fourteen isolates of WEE and five of EEE were recovered from July 15 to September 8, an average of one isolate for every 3,881 females. The significance of population dynamics and habitat distribution of the dominant mosquito species of the swamp to virus transmission is discussed.

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