Evidence for the existence of genetic variability in the tendency of Anopheles balabacensis to rest in houses and to bite man
Hii, J.L.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 16(1): 173-182
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 3839602 Document Number: 256707
Mark-release-recapture experiments were carried out in Sabah, East Malaysia, on Anopheles balabacensis, the vector of malaria and filariasis there. Wild females were marked with fluorescent pigments and released in man-baited huts fitted with exit traps. Simultaneous collections and releases were also made in biting catches at night on a water buffalo and on 4 men. All subsequent recaptures were made in the same situation in which the mosquitoes were marked. The same individual mosquitoes were caught biting man and buffalo on different occasions, and the numbers caught showed a strong preference for man over buffalo. In the field, the oviposition cycle lasted 3 days. After blood-feeding on man in a hut, A. balabacensis was found to leave the hut on the same night or early in the morning. The same individual mosoquitoes were found resting in the hut or exit trap on different occasions. These results provide strong evidence for the existence of genetic variability in the tendency of A. balabacensis to rest in houses and to bite man and buffalo; this phenomenon diminishes the likelihood of it being possible to interrupt malaria transmission by this mosquito in nature.