Biting Activity And Resting Behaviour Of Anopheles Merus Donitz 1902 (diptera: Culicidae) In Comparison With Fresh Water Breeding An. Gambiae On The Kenya Coast
Abstract
Ecological studies on An. merus and fresh water . -
breeding An. gambiae were conducted between February
1979 and May 1980 in two villages, Jimbo and Jego, on
the Kenya south coast. The main aim was to compare the
biting activity and resting behaviour of these An.
gambiae sibling species. An. merus was the most
abundant sibling species in Jimbo and constituted
86.0% of the 1,387 female An. gambiae s.l. ·that were
identified by salinity tolerance test. In Jego,
fresh water An. gambiae sibling species were predominant
and comprised 98.5% of the 550 female An. gambiae
s •1. tested.
The biting cycle of An. merus outdoors and indoors,
gradually rose from 18.00 hours and .attained a peak
.between 24.00 hours and 01.00 hours and then declined
towards 06.00 hours. The biting patterns of fresh
water-An. ganibiae had steeper slopes than for An. merus
and showed two peaks outdoors, one between 22.00 hours
and 23.00 hours, the other between 24.00 hours and
'01.00 hours. The peak of the indoor biting cycle
occurred between 01.00 hour and 02.00 hours. Overall,
the outdoor and indoor biting cycles of An. merus
were more similar and less erratic than those of
fresh water An.gambiae.
Citation
Clifford Maina Mutero (1980).Biting Activity And Resting Behaviour Of Anopheles Merus Donitz 1902 (diptera: Culicidae) In Comparison With Fresh Water Breeding An. Gambiae On The Kenya Coast. A Thesis Submitted For The Degree Of Master Of Science In The University Of Nairobi.Publisher
University of Nairobi School of Biological Sciences