The effect of malaria parasite infection on the feeding behaviour and gonotrophic cycle of anopheline mosquitoes in Kisumu area, western Kenya.

Abstract

studies were carried out in Kisian area with the objective of observing the influence of malaria parasite infection on the feeding behaviour and fecundity of wild anopheline mosquitoes. Five anopheline species; Anopheles gambiae 5.1., An. funestus, An. ziemanni, An. coustani and An. pharoensis were identified in the study area. Hungry females captured by human bait were placed in small cages and offered a blood meal from anaesthetised hamsters. Mosquito behaviour was recorded for a period of 10 minutes. Thirty-five percent of hungry females probed. Feedtng,pehaviour was compared between infected and uninfected groups of An. gambiae 5.1. and ". , An. funestus. Plasmodium fa1diparum-infected Anopheles gambiae 5.1. made significantly more probes than their uninfected counterparts. Infected An. gambiae 5.1. probed nearly twice as often as uninfected An. gambiae 5.1. and also had a significantly higher mean total probing time than uninfected females. This behaviour was not correlated with the intensity of the infection. Sporozoite infection of An. gambiae 5.1. did not affect the time taken by the mosquito to feed to repletion. Like Anopheles gambiae 5.1., infected An. funestus probed more often and for a longer time than did uninfected females. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Among uninfected females, probing and feeding behaviour of An.gambiae 5.1. was not related to parity status.