Mosquitoes (Diptera: <i>Culicidae</i>) are vectors of vector-borne infections in South Vietnam (materials of the spring expedition 2024)

BACKGROUND: Blood-sucking mosquitoes are carriers of many human vector-borne diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths. There are the results of entomological studies of the Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technology Center. AIM: is to study the generic and species composition of mosquitoes in South Vietnam before the rainy season, when mosquito activity is low. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The collection of arthropods was carried out from May 12 to 26, 2024 in two regions of South Vietnam: the coastal mangrove reserve in the Can Gio area of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as in the Bu Gia Map Reserve of Binh Phuoc province. Imago was collected by exhusters “on themselves” and from feeders, entomological nets from plants, as well as inside and outside residential and outbuildings. The larvae were collected by filtering water samples from natural and artificial reservoirs where mosquitoes lay eggs. Arthropods were identified by morphological features. RESULTS: The analysis of the collected material in two regions of South Vietnam showed that before the rainy season, mosquitoes of the genus Culex predominate 90.7%, mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles and Aedes account for 6.1% and 3.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Thus, in South Vietnam, at the end of the “dry season”, mosquitoes of the genus Culex predominate, adapted to development in conditions of reduced breeding sites. The study of the mechanisms of functioning of parasitic systems involving blood-sucking mosquitoes requires further research with the expansion of the research area. It is advisable to conduct entomological monitoring in various landscape and climatic zones during different periods of the epidemic season.