A potential vector of dog heartworm in Knox County, Tennessee

The dog heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy) is an important parasite of canines in Knox County, Tennessee. The population dynamics and vector capacity of adult mosquitoes in the Rocky Hill area were investigated.

A possible focus of canine heartworm disease was located in western Knox County, Tennessee, using disease records and map resources.

5280 mosquitoes were collected during this study. Five species were collected in numbers sufficient for analysis. Four of these species have previously been incriminated as vectors of the parasite in other areas of the United States.

Four trapping methods were compared. There was no significant difference between numbers of individuals captured by the different traps for the species tested. Blood fed females were most often collected by overnight use of the Magoon trap. Anopheles pseudopunctipennis Theobald was collected. This is a new county record for this species.

Aedes trivittatus (Coquillett) was implicated as a potential vector of the parasite by dissection and location of the parasite.