Phytotelmata as Mosquito Breeding Sites in the Darjeeling Himalayas: A Proximate Assessment

An assessment of the phytotelmata as mosquito larval habitats in the Darjeeling hill region, India was carried out from July to September 2021 coinciding with the rainy season. Applying random sampling of the selected sites along the different altitudes from the Darjeeling hills, revealed that at least six different varieties of phytotelmata are available with differences in the habitat features and the mosquito immature productivity. The plants like Musa balbisiana (Banana), Colocasia esculenta (Cocoyam), Arundo donax  (Narkat), Pandanus furcatus (Tarika), Neoregelia regia (Bromeliad) were observed to be positive for the mosquitoes along with the bamboo stumps. The groves of four bamboo plants namely, Bambusa nutans (Malabas), Dendrocalamus giganteus, (Bhalubas), Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (Choyabas), and Yushania maling (Malingo) were found to be positive for the mosquito larvae. In almost all instances, the dominance of the Aedes mosquitoes was observed with the occasional presence of the chironomid larvae as the dominant insects in the phytotelmata. The phytotelmata types varied with the water content, mosquito larval abundance, and water quality justifying the differences in the mosquito larval habitats. Apparently, the mosquito availability in the Darjeeling Hill region appears to be facilitated by the existence of these diverse phytotelmata as mosquito larval habitats. Interestingly, we also observed altitudinal variations in the pupal productivity irrespective of the phytotelmata types and the differences in the pupal productivity of each of the phytotelmata types.