Separation of Anopheles merus from freshwater Anopheles gambiae by salinity tolerance test and morphological characters
Mosha, F.W.; Mutero, C.M.
Parassitologia 24(2-3): 255-264
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0048-2951 PMID: 6926942 Document Number: 189632
Although Anopheles gambiae s.l. has been divided into 3-6 sibling species by different authors, little work has been done on their differentiation in epidemiological studies, and their respective roles in the transmission of malaria and bancroftian filariasis is not clear. In Kenya, methods of separation of the saltwater A. merus from the freshwater A. gambiae, involving the use of salinity tolerance tests, counts of sensilla coeloconica, palpal ratio and palpal bands, were evaluated for a year on a total of about 340 mosquitoes. The results suggest that the morphological characters are not reliable for separation of the species; and that the salinity tolerance test, while reliable, is unsuitable for disease transmission studies, both because of the interval of 2-3 days between collection and dissection and because only a fraction of the mosquito sample is generally identified by this method.