Diversity of Anopheles Larvae in Toro Local Government Area, Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria

Vector control is a critical element of malaria control programs in Africa. To reduce human exposure to infective Anopheles mosquitoes, most programs rely on methods that kill adult mosquitoes. Therefore, the study on the distribution and abundance of Anopheles larvae in Toro Local Government Area (LGA.), Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria was carried out in July 2013. Five villages were randomly selected for the collection of Anopheles larvae. A total of 988 Anopheles larvae were collected from five habitat types. The paddy habitat recorded the highest abundance of 494(50%) while the canal habitat had the least abundance 53(5.36 %). The mean abundance of Anopheles larvae in relation to gradients of larval habitat to houses showed no significant difference (F9 = 0.434, Adjusted R2 = -0.39, P = 0.885). However, there was a significant difference (F14 = 9.18, Adjusted R2 = 0.65, P = 0.001) in the mean abundance of Anopheles larvae in relation to habitat types. The larval abundance in relation to water depths varied significantly (F13 = 29.61, Adjusted R2 = 0.888, P = 0.001). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in larval abundance between still and moving waters; light versus shaded water bodies; and clear versus turbid waters, respectively. In conclusion, the inhabitants of Toro LGA should always clear stagnant water bodies so as to hinder mosquitoes breeding success. Also, larval source management should focus more on paddy habitat in peri-urban agricultural sites when designing intervention programmes in order to control mosquitoes’ larvae.