Aedes up in night too to spread dengue: Study

The study covered five villages — Kaverirajapuram, Adhiandhrawada, R K Pattu, Ekkadu and Akur — in Tiruvallur district, which saw a fever outbreak a few months ago. Dr S Elango, former director of Public Health, president, IPHA-Tamil Nadu, headed the study, in which experienced entomologists and insect collectors participated. Dr Elango said that the 10-member team collected a sample of more than 200 mosquitoes during the night time, out of which 22 per cent were the Aedes mosquitoes. He added, “A larger number of the sample were the culex mosquitoes.” He said that they found that Aedes female mosquitoes that are known to be day biters also bit humans during the night. “Unlike human eyes, mosquitoes have compound eyes. They identify only the light and does not differentiate day and night. They are attracted towards human being due to ammonia and carbon dioxide,” he said. The group followed the standard method of insect collection recommended by World Health Organisation.