2015/17: Monitoring mosquito populations

Wet and tropical Innisfail

Innisfail, lies within the Cassowary Coast Region of Far North Queensland, Australia and has a population of approximately 10,000. The township is situated at the junction of the North and South Johnstone Rivers (pictured above), about 5km from the coast. Innisfail is 90km south of Cairns along the Bruce Highway.

A warm tropical climate and an annual rainfall of around 3500mm ensures the area is always lush and green. Average daytime temperatures in Australia’s winter range from 26 and 30 degrees Celsius (in the dry season from May to October) and in the wet season (November to April) the temperature is around 30 degrees.

Our early research

With tropical rain and heat come mosquitoes, and the Cassowary Coast has possibly more than its fair share. And with the presence of an invasive mosquito like the Aedes aegypti can also come dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

In November 2015 we began looking to see how the numbers of Aedes aegypti change seasonally in the Innisfail area. In ten months a network of over 300 traps, hosted on residential and business owner’s properties, has identified over 30 different species of mosquitoes in the region and a year round presence of Aedes aegypti.