Spatial variation of host selection in Culex pipiens mosquitoes

Recent field studies are measuring feeding patterns of mosquitoes using advances in molecular blood meal identification and quantify host selection based on measures of availability. These studies incriminate vectors responsible for arbovirus transmission and implicate species responsible for host selection. However, most of these studies aggregate data across samples collected from different geographic areas due to limited sample sizes. We performed a mosquito blood meal analysis integrating host-feeding patterns of Culex pipiens (n=750) with measures of host availability from 10 different sites in a West Nile virus-endemic area of suburban Chicago, Illinois, during 2005–2008. We will present both the spatial variation in host selection and the amplification fraction of the avian community at each site. Results demonstrate the importance of considering spatial variation when measuring feeding patterns and host selection, especially when genetic substructuring in the Cx. pipiens complex is known to influence host preference.