Predatory habits of Lutzia (Metalutzia) fuscana (Wiedmann) (Diptera: Culicidae) in the arid environments of Jodhpur, western Rajasthan, India

Abstract

The stable breeding of Lutzia (Metalutzia) fuscana was recorded form different locations of Indian Desert the "Thar" for the first time. The species being predatory in its larval form was investigated for evaluation of its biological control aspect in the desert setup where breeding sites and prey species are limited. Though its predatory habit is established yet using it as biological controlling agent was not found promising due to untargeted approach due to unlimited outdoor breeding places in sub-humid climatic conditions in rest of India. Whereas in desert due to limited water sources, mosquito vectors share the available breeding niche this increases possibility of targeted biological control using predatory species. Laboratory experiments on predatory habit of Lutzia (Metalutzia) fuscana showed that it preferred Aedes aegypti larvae most (88.5%), Anopheles stephensi (47.5%) and Culex quinquefasciatus larvae (39.0%). Average consumption of daily larvae is 18.89 larvae/day. If colonized properly and released in controlled conditions they can be useful in controlling of socially protected and unattended breeding containers resulting reduction in mosquito population.

Keywords

• Lutzia (Metalutzia) fuscana
• predatory
• biological control
• desert