Abstract
Mansonia titillans (Walker) and Mansonia dyari (Belkin, Heinemann, and Page) are two mosquito species found throughout the southern United States. These species are aggressive biters and considered potential vectors for several debilitating diseases. Understanding their flight activity as well as relevant environmental factors influencing this behavior is crucial to develop effective control strategies. This study took place in Lee County, Florida, located along the Gulf coast of southwest Florida. Quarterly trapping was conducted using collection bottle rotator traps sampling one-hour increments between 5 pm and 8 am. An onsite weather station collected environmental data for wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, rain accumulation, and light levels (lux). Hourly capture data were evaluated using the Wilcoxon nonparametric test with Steel-Dwass All-Pairs as a post-hoc test. A series of stepwise linear regressions were conducted to explore environmental factors. The peak activity of Ma. titillans and Ma. dyari was determined to be between the hours of sunset and two hours post sunset. The environmental conditions light, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed all had a significant impact on mosquito abundance over the course of the study. Mansonia appear to display an upper threshold limit to both humidity and temperature. Light appears to play an important role in activity but does not appear to be the environmental cue driving flight. It is the goal of this study to aid public health managers in tailoring their nighttime spray operations around the flight activity of Ma. titillans and Ma. dyari. The increased precision of applications would allow for higher efficacy rates while potentially decreasing the unnecessary insecticidal load on the environment.