Mosquito Species Composition and Resting Distribution in Kuri and Kwadon, Gombe State, Nigeria: Implications within a Changing Climatic Environment

Mosquito species composition, physiological status and resting behavior provide important information for understanding vector ecology and malaria transmission. This study assessed mosquito species composition, physiological status, and indoor and outdoor resting distribution in Kuri and Kwadon, Gombe State, Nigeria, and considered their implications within a changing climatic environment. Adult mosquitoes were collected from indoor and outdoor resting sites and identified using morphological characteristics. Specimens were classified as unfed, blood-fed, half-gravid, gravid, or male. A total of 778 mosquitoes were collected in Kuri, comprising Anopheles gambiae s.l. (45.4%), Culex quinquefasciatus (50.5%), and Aedes aegypti (4.1%). In Kwadon, 1,037 mosquitoes were collected, comprising An. gambiae s.l. (29.6%), C. quinquefasciatus (61.4%), and Ae. aegypti (9.0%). Species abundance differed significantly in Kuri (F = 12.42, p = 0.008) and Kwadon (F = 9.85, p = 0.012). Indoor collections were significantly higher than outdoor collections in both Kuri (t = 3.24, p = 0.048) and Kwadon (t = 2.58, p = 0.046). Blood-fed and gravid females indicated active feeding and reproductive activity. Climatic variables were not measured in this study; the climatic context discussed is therefore drawn from previously published evidence of changing temperature and rainfall patterns in North-Eastern Nigeria and is not a finding of the present data. The findings highlight the need for continued community-level entomological surveillance and climate-informed vector-control planning in the study area.