Abstract
Annual changes in the distribution and abundance of mosquitoes were studied in rice field areas of southern Miyagi and Minamisouma in Fukushima, Japan, where urban and rural environments were destroyed by the Tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. A total of 16 species and species groups of mosquitoes were collected by dry-ice traps from 2011 to 2014, with the dominant species being the Culex pipiens group, Cx. inatomii, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, and Aedes albopictus. The mean density of the adults of the dominant species in July and August was calculated for each year, and was higher in the “Tsunami” area than the “No-Tsunami” area, except for Ae. albopictus, and the area difference became smaller year by year in southern Miyagi. A clear relationship was observed between distance from the coast and the density of Cx. inatomii females in southern Miyagi in 2011 and 2014, indicating the presence of suitable larval habitats along the coast. There was no relationship between distance from the coast and female density of the Cx. pipiens group in 2014. The percentage of ground pools containing mosquito larvae was higher in the “Tsunami” area than the “No-Tsunami” area in southern Miyagi, whereas the opposite result was observed in Minamisouma in Fukushima.
