the subfamily anophelinae has three genera and culicinae has 109 genera ( harbach 2007 ) .
many of the world 's major diseases such as malaria , west nile , sindbis , dirofilariasis , dengue fever , yellow fever , rift valley fever are transmitted by mosquitoes .
west nile and sindbis viruses have been reported in northern parts of iran ( naficy and saidi 1970 , saidi et al .
the mosquito borne filarial worms , dirofilaria immitis and d. repens , setaria ( s. labiatopapillosa , s. digitata and s. equina ) and diptalonema evansi ( camel filariasis ) have been reported in iran ( siavashi and massoud 1995 , eslami 1997 , azari - hamidian et al .
anopheles maculipennis and culex theileri were reported as vectors of setaria labiatopapillosa and dirofilaria immitis respectively , in ardebil province ( azari - hamidian et al .
dengue fever cases were reported in tehran , imported from malaysia , india and thailand .
in addition , six df cases were reported from sistan and baluchistan province in southeast iran ( chinikar et al .
the systematic key of anopheles species in iran was reported by shahgudian ( 1960 ) .
many studies have been carried out about the genus of culex and its medical importance ( ghaffary 1956 , lotfi 1970 , lotfi 1973 , lotfi 1976 , zaim et al .
the results of these studies have led to the publishing of the iranian culicinae checklist ( zaim and cranston 1986 ) .
the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission and its geographical distribution have been studied by saebi ( 1987 ) .
the fauna and ecological characteristics of culicidae with emphasis on their medical importance were conducted in isfahan and hormozgan provinces as well as chabahar county ( mousakazemi et al .
moreover , the study on the genus of aedes is very scattered in the northern parts of the iran .
more than 30 culicidae species reported from guilan province ( azari - hamidian et al .
( 2011 ) in central iran . among the 467 species of anopheles identified in the world ( harbach 2007 ) , about 70 anopheles species are malaria vectors in which about 40 species are important vectors ( service 1993 ) .
anopheles maculipennis complex , one of the most important vectors of malaria , was reported in northern iran ( eslami 1997 , azari - hamidian 2007a ) .
pipiens were reported as dominant species in isfahan province , central iran ( mousakazemi et al . 2000a ) and in east azarbaijan and ardebil provinces ( abai et al .
, seven species of malaria vectors have been reported in iran ( vatandoost et al .
superpictus ( edrissian 2006 , vatandoost et al . 2008 , vatandoost et al . 2009a , moosa - kazemi et al .
anopheles pulcherrimus has been identified as potential vector in iran using serological method ( zaim et al .
multicolor but sporozoite never found in its salivary gland and not considered as the malaria vector ( eshghy 1977 ) .
anopheles hyrchanus was found as a malaria vector using the pcr method in northern iran ( dinparast djadid et al .
, 64 species , three subspecies and seven genera of culicidae have been reported from iran ( azari - hamidian 2007a ) .
the first study about the mosquitoes in mazandaran province was carried out by gutzevich ( 1943 ) and zolotarev ( 1945 ) .
messeae have been reported by zolotarev ( 1945 ) . however , gutsevich ( 1943 ) reported the species of an .
iran is in the malaria pre elimination stage ( who 2008 ) , thus the bionomic study of mosquitoes in this country is very important .
there are scattered studies on the fauna and ecological properties of mosquitoes in mazandaran province .
this part of iran holds specific location due to access to the caspian sea and to other aspects such as trade , commerce and navigation .
this study aimed to determine fauna and the ecology of mosquitoes in neka county , mazandaran province , northern iran from april to december , 2009 .
the data obtain in this study will be valuable to develop programs for future planning of mosquito control in this area .
mazandaran province is located in the northern iran between the caspian sea and the alborz mountains ( 3639 n , 5317 e ) ( fig .
this area located in the north with caspian sea , in the south with tehran and semnan provinces , in the east with golestan province and in the west guilan province , including 19 counties ( geography of mazandaran province 2013 ) .
maximum and minimum temperatures were 27.6 and 9.1 c in july and december 2009 , respectively .
the maximum annual rainfall has been reported 204.6 mm in october , and the least was 0.1 mm in july 2009 .
the most important crop of the region is rice , and hyrcanian forest area and mild and rainy weather caused this province to be a suitable mosquito habitat ( mazandaran local meteorological office 2009 ) .
map of iran and neka county , northern iran three fixed villages , namely darvishan , chalmardi , and khairabad , were randomly selected for field survey .
moreover , six variable villages ( golbestan , elmiyeh , baghearab , nimchah , chalehpol , and khorshid ) were selected with regard to existing facilities in neka county . in each fixed village , six fixed and two variable locations were selected in plain , slope and mountain conditions .
larvae sampling was collected from the natural larval habitats of fixed villages including river margins , ponds and water craters , craters rain water , marsh , tree holes , rice fields , worn tires , irrigation canals , wells , and sewage , using the standard dipper rate of 350 mm capacity every 15 days ( who 1963 ) .
we attempted to collect the data about the biological and physical characteristics of the larval habitats , including running water , residents ( permanent or temporary ) , the type of larval habitats natural or artificial , presence or absence of the plant , type of substrate ( sand , clay , or rocky ) , to be sunny ( sunny or shady ) , water status ( clear or opaque ) and water temperature .
the larval stages iii and iv were preserved in 100 % lactophenol solution and later identified morphologically using the keys of shahgudian ( 1960 ) , zaim and cranston ( 1986a ) , harbach ( 1985 , 1988 ) , and azari - hamidian and harbach ( 2009 ) .
mazandaran province is located in the northern iran between the caspian sea and the alborz mountains ( 3639 n , 5317 e ) ( fig .
this area located in the north with caspian sea , in the south with tehran and semnan provinces , in the east with golestan province and in the west guilan province , including 19 counties ( geography of mazandaran province 2013 ) .
maximum and minimum temperatures were 27.6 and 9.1 c in july and december 2009 , respectively .
the maximum annual rainfall has been reported 204.6 mm in october , and the least was 0.1 mm in july 2009 .
the most important crop of the region is rice , and hyrcanian forest area and mild and rainy weather caused this province to be a suitable mosquito habitat ( mazandaran local meteorological office 2009 ) .
map of iran and neka county , northern iran three fixed villages , namely darvishan , chalmardi , and khairabad , were randomly selected for field survey .
moreover , six variable villages ( golbestan , elmiyeh , baghearab , nimchah , chalehpol , and khorshid ) were selected with regard to existing facilities in neka county . in each fixed village , six fixed and two variable locations were selected in plain , slope and mountain conditions .
larvae sampling was collected from the natural larval habitats of fixed villages including river margins , ponds and water craters , craters rain water , marsh , tree holes , rice fields , worn tires , irrigation canals , wells , and sewage , using the standard dipper rate of 350 mm capacity every 15 days ( who 1963 ) .
we attempted to collect the data about the biological and physical characteristics of the larval habitats , including running water , residents ( permanent or temporary ) , the type of larval habitats natural or artificial , presence or absence of the plant , type of substrate ( sand , clay , or rocky ) , to be sunny ( sunny or shady ) , water status ( clear or opaque ) and water temperature .
the larval stages iii and iv were preserved in 100 % lactophenol solution and later identified morphologically using the keys of shahgudian ( 1960 ) , zaim and cranston ( 1986a ) , harbach ( 1985 , 1988 ) , and azari - hamidian and harbach ( 2009 ) .
a total of 32530 larvae were collected : 3625 larvae of anophelinae and 28905 culicinae .
table 1 shows the results of anophelinae and culicinae species in the fixed and variable breeding places and tree holes .
abundance of larval mosquitoes ( density per 10 dip ) in neka county , mazandaran province , northern iran , 2009 

 anopheles claviger 

 collected 0.31 % , 2.78 % of total culicidae and 

 anopheles 

 collection , respectively ( 

 table 1 

 ) .
the characteristics of the habitats under different temperature and altitude conditions are shown in 

 table 2 

 .
the minimum and maximum temperature of water of the larval habitats was calculated as 19 c and 22 c , respectively ( average 20.5 c ) . on the other hand ,
the maximum and minimum altitude of the habitats was 300 and 200 meters , respectively ( average 250 meters ) . 
 
species composition of mosquito larvae collected from different temperatures and altitudes in neka county , northern iran , 2009 

 anopheles maculipennis 

 was collected 0.54 % , 4.82 % of the total and 

 anopheles 

 collection , respectively .
maximum and minimum water temperature was reported as 26 c and 17 c , respectively ( average 22.5 c ) .
maximum and minimum altitude was 300 and 180 meters respectively , ( average 240 meters ) . 
 


anopheles plumbeus 

 was collected 10.28 % , 92.27 % of total and 

 anopheles 

 collection , respectively . moreover ,
this species was collected in tree holes and the artificial habitats such as pond water .
maximum and minimum temperature was found as16 c and 14 c , respectively ( average 15 c ) .
the minimum and maximum sea level of larval habitat was calculated at least 180 and 250 meters , respectivelly and the average were 215 meters . 
 


anopheles superpictus 

 was collected 0.01 % , 0.13 % of the total and 

 anopheles 

 collection , respectively .
minimum and maximum temperature of the larval habitat was reported as 17 c and 19 c , respectively and average was 180 c .
the minimum altitude was 280 meters , and the maximum was 300 ( average 290 meters).the optimum of temperature and favorable altitudes of other species are presented in 

 tables 1 

 and 

 2 

 . 
 
 the majority of 

 an .
plumbeus 

 was collected in natural , permanent , and stagnant water with vegetation , turbid and transparent water and semi - shade tree holes are shown in 

 table 3 

 . 


superpictus 

 larvae were collected from natural , permanent , stagnant water with vegetation , clear and transparent breeding places . on the other hand , 

 an .
claviger 

 larvae were collected mostly in permanent , and stagnant , transparent water with semi - shade and vegetation . 


culex mimeticus 

 was found in the natural habitats such as river and ponds from permanent river , and stagnant pools with vegetation .
pipiens 

 , the most abundant species , were found in artificial habitats and sewage breeding places in agricultural lands and low abundance along the river .
moreover , 

 oc . geniculatus 

 , the most dominant species , was found in permanent water with vegetation in slow running with clay substrate water , semi - shade in natural breeding places .
the larval habitat characteristics of the other species are shown in 

 table 3 

 . 
 
plumbeus larvae were collected from tree holes and artificial habitats such as permanent and stagnant water . however , the maximum and minimum of temperature of the larval habitat was as 16 c and 14 c , respectively . in parallel , azari - hamidian ( 2011a ) found this species in tree holes and discarded tire .
the most favorable temperature is 1518 c ; however , the species has tolerated to freeze ( up to 6 c to 8 c ) in the laboratory ( horsfall 1955 ) . however , garrett jones reported the occurrence of this species in kelardasht of mazandaran province ( garrett jones 1951 ) . in our investigation , cs .
annulata was found in natural , permanent , stagnant , semi - shade habitats with vegetation .
this species has been reported in guilan province , alborz and zagros mountains , east bushehr and robat tork of isfahan province ( azari - hamidian et al .
subochrea were not found in our collection , and neither were the adults of this species ( table 1 ) .
annulata have also been reported from various places except tree holes ( azari - hamidian et al .
geniculatus species have been reported in tree holes ( nikookar et al . 2010 ) . in our study , the larvae of cs .
longiareolata were collected from all larval habitats except tree holes , which comprised 8.91 % , 10.03 % of the total and culicinae collection , respectively .
this species was reported first time in north of the country by gutzevich ( 1943 ) .
the occurrence of this species was also reported by the previous study in mazandaran province ( zaim 1987 ) .
the larval habitat of this species has been reported from many parts of iran ( zaim 1987 ) . at the same study , the larval habitat has been reported as contaminated with organic materials , in old pit located in outdoor places and rice fields ( kitron and pener 1986 , mousakazemi et al .
it has also been reported from the north khorasan and qom provinces ( azari - hamidian et al .
there is scatter information about the distribution and taxonomy of the three species of cs .
subochrea in iran ( zaim et al . 1986 , azari - hamidian et al . 2003b , azari - hamidian 2005 ) .
claviger was found in permanent , stagnant water with vegetation habitat , as well as in the clay and stone substrate of water . in parallel ,
macan ( 1950 ) has reported the existence of this species in the sunny / shadowy springs , and slow running pools water temperature of 1416 c in iraq and western iran .
dow ( 1953 ) reported the larval habitat of this species in shallow and small pools with little vegetation .
it was also found within the larval habitats with temperature of 1215 c ( horsfall 1955 ) .
the occurrence of this species in mazandaran was reported previously by garrett jones ( garrett jones 1951 ) .
maculipennis was found in permanent , transparent , semi - shady natural breeding places with vegetation habitat , as well as in the cement or stone substrate of water . in parallel ,
azari - hamidian ( 2011 ) reported the presence of this species in the stagnant , gravel substrate , sunny springs , and pools with stagnant water .
anopheles sacharovi has been reported from mazandaran province ( sedaghat et al . 2003 ) .
initial studies mainly focused on identification of the mosquitoes and their role in disease transmission ( gutsevich 1943 , macan 1950 , dow 1953 , minar 1974 ) . in our investigation ,
superpictus was found as 0.01 % , 0.13 % of the total and anopheles collection , respectively .
this species was found in permanent , stagnant , with clay substrate , transparent water , semi - shade , natural with vegetation habitat .
studies in different parts of mazandaran province confirmed the occurrence of this species ( zolotarev 1945 , dow 1953 ) .
moreover , azari - hamidian ( 2011 ) stated its presence in stagnant , transient , mud substrate , fully sunlight places with vegetation in natural habitats .
( 2000 ) in zarrin - shahr and mobarakeh areas of isfahan province . some information on the larval stage of an .
some ecological aspects of this species have been in rasht county of guilan province ( azari - hamidian et al .
( 2005 ) reported the larval breeding places of mosquitoes including anophelines in iranshahr , southeastern iran .
however , the edges of stony streams with sunlight and semi - shallow have been mentioned as the main breeding places of this species in western iran ( macan 1950 ) .
there are no reports about the genotypes of this species in mazandaran province , however , it needs to be studied by the future investigations . in our study ,
culex pipiens was found as 63.99 % of the total and 72.01 % of culicinae larvae collection in natural and artificial larval habitats such as tree holes . in addition ,
hollow pipes , hot water , holes hungarian sewage , stagnant water , and toilet field were reported as the breeding places of this species ( jupp 1970 , kulanin 1980 , zaim 1987 , vinogradova 2000 , mousakazemi et al .
this species were reported in natural habitat ( rain pool , river edge ) with standing water azari - hamidian ( 2007b ) .
the shape of siphon of larvae in the tip , middle and the base has been mentioned to identification of two recent species ( zaim and cranston 1986 ) . however , azari - hamidian and harbach ( 2009 ) mentiond the existence of two branches of seta 1 on abdominal segment iii  vi for cx .
pipiens , were reported as the presence of two pairs of long seta on the base of siphon ( zaim and cranston 1986 ) .
the existence of seta 1 with 45 branches and seta 1-x with two branches is attributed to cx .
torrentium and two branches of seta 1 on abdominal segment iii  v mentioned to cx .
ochlerotatus geniculatus was collected as comprising 14.85 % , 16.7 % of the total and culicinae larvae collections , respectively .
maximum and minimum altitude of the larval habitat was 250 meters and 230 meters , respectively and the average was 240 meters .
further support of this result comes from some previous studies ( gutsevich 1943 , zaim et al .
ochlerotatus echinus is distributed in palaearctic , europe , north africa , and south east asia , and in iran , it has been reported from guilan province in the north ( knight and stone 1977 , azarai - hamidian et al .
in addition , this species were collected by janbakhsh in sari county and reported by zaim ( 1984a ) .
studies from some parts of mazandaran province showed the occurrence of this species ( zaim et al .
moreover , the distribution of this species has been reported from both guilan , mazandaran provinces ( azari - hamidian et al .
2002a ) , as well as from gulestan ( gutsevich 1943 ) , and ardebil ( azari - hamidian et al . 2009 ) . in our study
, culex mimeticus was found as comprising 0.03 % of the total larvae collection in permanent , stagnant , transparent water , clay substrate , semi - shade natural breeding places . in parallel , zaim ( 1987 ) stressed the permanent , slow running water , full sunlight , mud substrate , transient and fresh water with vegetation in natural stream bed pools and rice fields as the breeding places of this species .
studies from different parts of mazandaran confirmed the occurrence of this species ( dow 1953 , zaim 1987 ) .
 background : ecological studies on mosquitoes are very important in vector control programs . 
 there are a few studies about the ecology of mosquitoes in northern iran . 
 this study was carried out to detect fauna and larval habitat characteristics of mosquitoes.methods:this study aimed to determine fauna and the ecology of mosquitoes in neka county , mazandaran province , northern iran from april to december , 2009 . 
 the larval collection was conducted using standard dipper , and the characteristics of larval habitat were investigated based on degree of transparency of water , type of water ( stagnant or running ) , plant vegetation , sunny or shady , temperature and altitude of the natural or artificial breeding places.results:the mosquito larvae were collected from 72 habitats and identified using systematic keys . 
 nine species of mosquitoes were identified : anopheles claviger ( 0.31% ) , an . 
 maculipennis ( 0.54% ) , an . 
 plumbeus ( 10.28% ) , an . 
 superpictus ( 0.01% ) , culiseta annulata ( 1.07% ) , cs . 
 longiareolata ( 8.91% ) , culex mimeticus ( 0.03% ) , cx . 
 pipiens ( 63.99% ) , and ochlerotatus geniculatus ( 14.85% ) . 
 the range of temperature in the larval habitats was 19.622.5 c . 
 significant difference was observed in the rate of temperature among the species in the larval habitats ( p < 0.05 ) . a checklist of mosquitoes including seven genera and 32 species has been provided for mazandaran province.conclusion:the most dominant species were cx . 
 pipiens . 
 they were collected from the larval habitats like border rivers , ponds , rain water pools , discarded tires and tree holes . 
 culiseta annulata was included to the checklist of mosquitoes in mazandaran province . 
Introduction
Materials and Methods
The study area
Results
Checklist of Culicidae in Mazandaran Province
Family culicidae
Discussion
Conclusion