On the ecology and distribution of the species of the simulium damnosum complex in different bioclimatic zones of Liberia and Guinea
Garms, R.; Vajime, C.G.
Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 26(3): 375-380
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0303-4208 PMID: 1189032 Document Number: 94745
Chromosomal identification of material of the complex of Simulium damnosum Theo. collected in Liberia in 1968-71 and in Guinea in 1963-67 showed that 5 species were included. All occurred in Guinea and all except one in Liberia. S. yahense Vajime & Dunbar was widely distributed in the rain-forest zone of Liberia and southern Guinea and in the Fouta Djallon Mountains of north-western Guinea. Breeding places were typically in small watercourses, shaded streams and narrow rivers. S. sanctipauli Vajime & Dunbar was restricted to the rain forest zone where it bred only in large rivers. S. soubrense Vajime & Dunbar bred in both large and medium-sized rivers in high forest in Liberia and in the head-waters of the Niger and its southern tributaries in the Guinea savanna region of eastern Guinea. S. damnosum was distributed in the forest zone and Guinea savanna zone, breeding in rivers and irrigation systems. S. sirbanum Vajime & Dunbar was confined to the Northern Guinea savanna zone in north-eastern Guinea. It bred in rivers and irrigation plants and occasionally in streams arising from lakes. Larvae of S. yahense and S. sanctipauli could be separated by morphological characters. Associations with other Simuliid species are discussed.