Resumen

CALDERON-ARGUEDAS, OLGER; TROYO, ADRIANA  y  SOLANO, MAYRA E. LARVAL DIVERSITY OF MOSQUITOES (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) IN ARTIFICIAL CONTAINERS FROM AN URBAN COMMUNITY OF SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA. Parasitol. latinoam. [online]. 2004, vol.59, n.3-4, pp. 132-136. ISSN 0717-7712.  doi: 10.4067/S0717-77122004000300007.

A larval survey of mosquitoes was performed in artificial containers from indoor and outdoor enviroments in the neighborhood "La Carpio", San José, Costa Rica. "La Carpio" is a community that suffered a dengue outbreak during the last months of the rainy season in 2002. During 2003, 582 and 369 houses were visited in the dry and rainy season, respectively, and the potencial mosquito breeding sites were searched for larvae. Of 1160 water containers identified, 152 (13.0%) were positive for at least one species of mosquito larvae and two mosquito species were found in 9 (0.78%) of the containers. In order to estimate the mosquito diversity, an infestation index by species (Ii) was calculated for each kind of container. Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, Cx. restuans, Cx. coronator, and Limatus durhamii were identified. Ae. aegypti was the most common species, and it showed the highest infestation index for all the containers (p < 0.05). In addition to Ae. aegypti, the presence of other species of Culicidae could mask the success of campaigns for prevention of dengue. This is also an important factor to consider in order to prevent the ocurrence of emerging vector borne diseases such as West Nile Virus Encephalitis.

Palabras clave : West Nile Virus.