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Effects of wind on the behaviour and distribution of mosquitoes and blackflies

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Abstract

Flight activity of haematophagous insects can be greatly reduced by wind, but species inhabiting woods and other sheltered sites will be less affected than those living in more exposed areas. If flight is suppressed this may lead to reductions in blood-feeding and oviposition and thus a reduction in their reproductive capacity. Although wind usually inhibits flight it appears that newly emerged adults of some mosquito species are specially adapted to take-off and flight in windy weather, thus promoting dispersal and colonization of new areas. Dispersal of simuliids and mosquitoes can be very important in control programmes as they can create problems of recolonization. Because air turbulence and convection are usually greatest during the day, simuliids and day-flying mosquitoes are more likely to be swept into the upper air and carried long distances than mosquito species that are active at night.

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  1. Department of Medical Entomology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, L3 5QA, Liverpool, England

    M. W. Service

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Service, M.W. Effects of wind on the behaviour and distribution of mosquitoes and blackflies. Int J Biometeorol 24, 347–353 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02250577

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