Abstract
Aquatic temperature influences the development and survival of immature Anopheles stephensi with implications for vector population trends and control strategies under climate change. Temperature was recorded from breeding habitats in Besant Nagar, Chennai, using floatable data loggers, in cemented overhead tank (cOHT), synthetic overhead tank (sOHT), shaded-well (S-Well) and non-shaded well (NS-Well). Hourly temperatures were analyzed across months and seasons. Immature survivorship experiments were carried out in biological incubators simulating habitat temperatures and compared with standard conditions. Adult mosquito longevity was assessed under simulated thatched-roof temperatures. sOHT recorded the highest temperatures, followed by cOHT, with wells recording minimum temperatures. Kruskal-Wallis tests showed significant differences in Hatching rate (HR) and Pupation rate (PR) across habitat temperatures, but not in Emergence rate (ER). Dunn’s analysis revealed better immature development under Standard and Well conditions versus cOHT and sOHT. PERMANOVA confirmed temperature’s strong influence on development, with cOHT causing the greatest survivorship variation. Adults emerging under cOHT conditions showed higher longevity than sOHT, while the adults which emerged from wells survived longest. This study demonstrates habitat-specific thermal effects on An. stephensi development and survival. Vector control through habitat modification, preventing breeding in overhead tanks, and public awareness are crucial for urban malaria elimination.
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All data supporting the findings of this study, including analyzed data and supplementary files, are included in this manuscript.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Malaria Research for providing the necessary facilities and support. We gratefully acknowledge Mr. E. Elumalai for the help rendered in the field work and all other staff of the NIMR field unit of Chennai for their valuable support. We express our sincere gratitude to the community of Besant Nagar for permitting us to place the temperature data loggers for a year. We also thank Prof. Jane Carlton for her invaluable support and suggestions during the study period and Dr. Lalitha Ramanathapuram for the procurement of the data loggers and other support. The financial assistance of ICMR (Senior Research Fellowship), New Delhi, to Dr. Sangamithra Ravishankaran for this study is thankfully acknowledged.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant U19AI089676, an International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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AE conceptualised and designed the study, oversaw its implementation and reviewed the manuscript. SR wrote the manuscript, performed data cleaning, statistical analysis and visualizations. JAJ, AA, ST, SR carried out the field work involving installation of the data loggers and subsequent fortnightly downloads, and adult vector collection. They also carried out the immature survivorship experiments. AA, KPK, and TS contributed to data analysis and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Clearance to conduct the scientific study was approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee of ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi (NIMR/PB/2010/150) and the institutional ethical clearance of the study was also obtained from ICMR- National Institute of Malaria Research of the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi (ECR/NIMR/EC/2010/100).
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Ravishankaran, S., Asokan, A., Kripa, P.K. et al. Thermal dynamics of vector breeding habitats and their impact on immature survivorship of Anopheles stephensi in Chennai, India. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35819-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35819-5
