Biting insect investigations, Darwin South Stage II : twelve month base line study of species, abundance and distribution of biting insects in the Darwin South area, Darwin N.T. , April 1993 to March 1994

The Darwin South planning and development strategy covers an area from Stuart Park to Palmerston and includes the major tidal creeks and the hinterland south of the Stuart Highway. Stage I of the strategy proposed the construction of a sea wall across Sadgroves Creek to create an impoundment to eventually provide over 650 hectares of surrounding land for development. This strategy has now been changed and the sea wall construction is no longer part of the plan. The development of the hinterland around Sadgroves Creek and other areas of the Darwin South area will be close to mangrove areas, and hence will encounter biting midge and mosquito problems. This report details the results of Stage II of the investigations, which is a twelve month study to provide information on the seasonal variation of the biting insects in the Sadgroves Creek basin catchment and adjacent areas. The field work was carried out from April 1993 to March 1994. It has been designed to gather additional information on the species, abundance and distribution of biting insects in the area to supplement the Stage I study, as well as provide the information on seasonal abundance