How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates
Background This field-based study examined the abundance and species complement of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) attracted to humans at four sites in the United Kingdom (UK). The study used a systematic approach to directly measure feeding by mosquitoes on humans at multiple sites and using mul...
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| Format: | Article |
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BioMed Central
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46471/ |
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| author | Brugman, Victor A. England, Marion E. Stoner, Joanne Tugwell, Laura Harrup, Lara E. Wilson, Anthony J. Medlock, Jolyon M. Logan, James G. Fooks, Anthony R. Mertens, Peter P.C. Johnson, Nicholas Carpenter, Simon |
| author_facet | Brugman, Victor A. England, Marion E. Stoner, Joanne Tugwell, Laura Harrup, Lara E. Wilson, Anthony J. Medlock, Jolyon M. Logan, James G. Fooks, Anthony R. Mertens, Peter P.C. Johnson, Nicholas Carpenter, Simon |
| author_sort | Brugman, Victor A. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background
This field-based study examined the abundance and species complement of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) attracted to humans at four sites in the United Kingdom (UK). The study used a systematic approach to directly measure feeding by mosquitoes on humans at multiple sites and using multiple volunteers. Quantifying how frequently humans are bitten in the field by mosquitoes is a fundamental parameter in assessing arthropod-borne virus transmission.
Methods
Human landing catches were conducted using a standardised protocol by multiple volunteers at four rural sites between July and August 2013. Collections commenced two hours prior to sunset and lasted for a total of four hours. To reduce bias occurring due to collection point or to the individual attractiveness of the volunteer to mosquitoes, each collection was divided into eight collection periods, with volunteers rotated by randomised Latin square design between four sampling points per site. While the aim was to collect mosquitoes prior to feeding, the source of blood meals from any engorged specimens was also identified by DNA barcoding.
Results
Three of the four sites yielded human-biting mosquito populations for a total of 915 mosquitoes of fifteen species/species groups. Mosquito species composition and biting rates differed significantly between sites, with individual volunteers collecting between 0 and 89 mosquitoes (over 200 per hour) of up to six species per collection period. Coquillettidia richiardii (Ficalbi, 1889) was responsible for the highest recorded biting rates at any one site, reaching 161 bites per hour, whilst maximum biting rates of 55 bites per hour were recorded for Culex modestus (Ficalbi, 1889). Human-biting by Culex pipiens (L., 1758) form pipiens was also observed at two sites, but at much lower rates when compared to other species.
Conclusions
Several mosquito species are responsible for human nuisance biting pressure in southern England, although human exposure to biting may be largely limited to evening outdoor activities. This study indicates Cx. modestus can be a major human-biting species in the UK whilst Cx. pipiens f. pipiens may show greater opportunistic human-biting than indicated by earlier studies. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:02:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-46471 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:02:14Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | BioMed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-464712020-05-04T19:06:31Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46471/ How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates Brugman, Victor A. England, Marion E. Stoner, Joanne Tugwell, Laura Harrup, Lara E. Wilson, Anthony J. Medlock, Jolyon M. Logan, James G. Fooks, Anthony R. Mertens, Peter P.C. Johnson, Nicholas Carpenter, Simon Background This field-based study examined the abundance and species complement of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) attracted to humans at four sites in the United Kingdom (UK). The study used a systematic approach to directly measure feeding by mosquitoes on humans at multiple sites and using multiple volunteers. Quantifying how frequently humans are bitten in the field by mosquitoes is a fundamental parameter in assessing arthropod-borne virus transmission. Methods Human landing catches were conducted using a standardised protocol by multiple volunteers at four rural sites between July and August 2013. Collections commenced two hours prior to sunset and lasted for a total of four hours. To reduce bias occurring due to collection point or to the individual attractiveness of the volunteer to mosquitoes, each collection was divided into eight collection periods, with volunteers rotated by randomised Latin square design between four sampling points per site. While the aim was to collect mosquitoes prior to feeding, the source of blood meals from any engorged specimens was also identified by DNA barcoding. Results Three of the four sites yielded human-biting mosquito populations for a total of 915 mosquitoes of fifteen species/species groups. Mosquito species composition and biting rates differed significantly between sites, with individual volunteers collecting between 0 and 89 mosquitoes (over 200 per hour) of up to six species per collection period. Coquillettidia richiardii (Ficalbi, 1889) was responsible for the highest recorded biting rates at any one site, reaching 161 bites per hour, whilst maximum biting rates of 55 bites per hour were recorded for Culex modestus (Ficalbi, 1889). Human-biting by Culex pipiens (L., 1758) form pipiens was also observed at two sites, but at much lower rates when compared to other species. Conclusions Several mosquito species are responsible for human nuisance biting pressure in southern England, although human exposure to biting may be largely limited to evening outdoor activities. This study indicates Cx. modestus can be a major human-biting species in the UK whilst Cx. pipiens f. pipiens may show greater opportunistic human-biting than indicated by earlier studies. BioMed Central 2017-09-15 Article PeerReviewed Brugman, Victor A., England, Marion E., Stoner, Joanne, Tugwell, Laura, Harrup, Lara E., Wilson, Anthony J., Medlock, Jolyon M., Logan, James G., Fooks, Anthony R., Mertens, Peter P.C., Johnson, Nicholas and Carpenter, Simon (2017) How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates. Parasites & Vectors, 10 (1). 420/1-420/11. ISSN 1756-3305 Mosquito Biting rate Human landing catch Culex Coquillettidia Blood meal https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-017-2360-9 doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2360-9 doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2360-9 |
| spellingShingle | Mosquito Biting rate Human landing catch Culex Coquillettidia Blood meal Brugman, Victor A. England, Marion E. Stoner, Joanne Tugwell, Laura Harrup, Lara E. Wilson, Anthony J. Medlock, Jolyon M. Logan, James G. Fooks, Anthony R. Mertens, Peter P.C. Johnson, Nicholas Carpenter, Simon How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title | How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title_full | How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title_fullStr | How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title_full_unstemmed | How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title_short | How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| title_sort | how often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern england?: a standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates |
| topic | Mosquito Biting rate Human landing catch Culex Coquillettidia Blood meal |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46471/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46471/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46471/ |