Rarefaction curves.

Calculated number of mosquito taxa as a function of number of sample collected from 24 sites representing six habitat types (solid lines) and 95% confidence intervals (shaded area) were plotted. The curves are used to determine whether the number of mosquitoes collected has reached an asymptote such that 100% of possible species were sampled. The technique also allows the calculation of species richness for a rarefied number of mosquitoes (species density or SD).