© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Mosquito fauna of Athens
33
maculipennis
complex and
An. claviger
were
present in three (Chelidonou, Ivis, Profitis Il-
ias, Figure 1) and four (Kokkinos Mylos, Ivis,
Profitis Ilias, Kato Kifissia, Figure 1) sampling
sites, respectively, and their highest larval
population densities were recorded also in
the summer period (July - August 2007 and
2008). The presence of
An. claviger
larvae
during the winter months indicates that this
species overwinters at the larval stage in the
Attica region, a fact that coincides with find-
ings by Becker
et al.
(2010).
Adult specimens of
Ochlerotatus zam-
mitii
(Pikrodafni, Figure 1),
Aedes cretinus
(Chelidonou, Ivis and Profitis Ilias, Figure 1)
and
Aedes albopictus
(Podoniftis, Figure 1)
were also caught during the sampling peri-
od while females of these three species tried
to bite. The two last species (
Ae. cretinus
and
Ae. albopictus
) belong to genus
Stegomyia
and were never sampled as larvae or pupae
during the present study. Their larvae devel-
op in tree-holes, phytotelmata and other ar-
tificial containers such as tires, barrels, cans
etc (Reiter & Sprenger, 1987; Grist, 1993; Si-
mard
et al.
, 2005).
Aedes albopictus
was first-
ly reported in northwestern Greece in 2003
(Samanidou-Voyadjoglou
et al.
, 2005). It is a
species of great medical importance since
it can transmit at least 24 diseases, among
which dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fe-
ver (Mitchell, 1995; Lundstrom, 1999).
Even though Attica is a
densely urban-
ized and populated city,
the current study
revealed that medical important mosquito
species, such as
Cx. pipiens
and
An. maculi-
pennis
may proliferate in the remaining nat-
ural breeding sites. These species are active
for several months of the year threatening a
large amount of the population in many ar-
eas of Attica. A mosquito vector surveillance
and population monitoring program should
be established including the surveillance of
invasive species (ECDC, 2012).
Literature cited
Becker, N., Petric, D., Zgomba, M., Boase, C., Madon,
M., Dahl, C., and Kaiser, A. 2010. Mosquitoes and
their control, Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 2nd edn.
577pp.
Darsie, R.F.J. and Samanidou-Voyadjoglou, A. 1997.
Keys for the identification of the mosquitoes of
Greece.
Journal of the American Mosquito Con-
trol Association,
13: 247-254.
ECDC. 2012. European Centre for Disease Preven-
tion and Control: Guidelines for the surveillance
of invasive mosquitoes in Europe, Stockholm.
95pp.
EL. STAT. 2012. Hellenic Statistical Authority.Sta-
tistical information about Greece available
on internet (last visit 18/11/2012)
-
tistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCK-
ET/A1602/PressReleases/A1602_SAM01_DT_
DC_00_2011_01_F_EN.pdf
Glick, J. 1992.
Illustrated key to the female
Anopleles
of Southwestern Asia and Egypt (Diptera: Culici-
dae).
Mosquito Systematics,
24(2): 125-153.
Grist, N. 1993.
Aedes albopictus
: the tyre-travelling ti-
ger.
Journal of Infection,
27(1): 1-4.
Harbach, R.E. 1985.
Pictorial keys to the genera of
Table 1.
Mosquito species sampled as larvae from natural breeding sites within the Attica
basin from March 2007 to December 2008.
2007
2008
M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
Cx. pipiens
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Cx. territans
- - - - - - √ - - -
- - - - - - - √ √ √ - -
Cx. impudicus
- - - - - √ - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cx. hortensis
- - - √ √ √ - - - -
- - - - - √ √ - - - - -
Cx. theileri
- - - - √ - - - - -
- - - - - √ - √ - - - -
An. maculipennis
- - - √ √ √ - - - -
- - - - √ √ √ - - - - -
An. claviger
√ √ √ - √ - √ - √ √ - √ √ √ - - √ - √ √ - √
Cs. longiareolata
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
(√:denotes presence)
