Impact of Climatic Change on Mosquito Distribution in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Climate changes have been widely associated with the development mosquito population and therefore help spread diseases, the need to continually check the diversity of the mosquitoes in Nigeria cannot be overemphasis. Indoor resting mosquitoes were collected in the University of Abuja Campus using Pyrethrum spray insecticide, climatic data were determined using daily weather report software on Nokia Ash 230 phone. Of the three hundred and ninety-eight (398) mosquito species encountered, they include; Anopheles gambiae 137 (34.42 %), Anopheles arabiensis 98 (24.62 %), Anopheles funestus 67 (16.83 %), Anopheles rufipes 60 (15.09 %), Culex sp 34 (8.54 %) and Aedes aegypti 2(0.50 %). Monthly abundance showed that May and June recorded the highest with 216 mosquitoes, while March recorded the least with mosquitoes collected with 6. The highest number of mosquitoes was found in male hostel with 160, the female hostel had 110, and faculties had 74 while lecture halls had the least with 54. There was no significant difference between the species of mosquitoes found in each month, but May and June showed significant different with number of mosquitoes collected at p< 0.05 level. The abundance in May and June may be due to the favourable climatic conditions.