Mosquito and aquatic predator communities in ground pools on lands deforested for rice field development in central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Aquatic habitats, mosquitoes, and larvivorous predators were studied on deforested lands in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Open ground pools, mainly in depressions made by the treads of bulldozers and other heavy equipment, were numerous but because of their small size, comprised ca. 1% or less of the total area of the deforested lands studied. The dominant mosquitoes in these pools were Anopheles vagus, Culex vishnui, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, and Culex gelidus. The 1st 2 species were dominant in clear pools, whereas the latter 2 species were dominant in turbid pools. The dominant metazoans other than mosquitoes were Crustacea, Ephemeroptera, and Chironomidae. Both aquatic and surface predators were abundant. Dominant among aquatic predators were Anisoptera and Zygoptera nymphs, Dytiscidae, and Notonectidae. These results are discussed in relation to mosquito control on deforested lands that transitionally but inevitably appear during the course of rice field development projects in Indonesia.