Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T04:37:01.464Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecology of the malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis Patton (Diptera: Culicidae) by the nile in northern Sudan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Mustafa Y. H. Dukeen  and
S. M. Omer
Mustafa Y. H. Dukeen
Affiliation:
Medical Entomology Section, National Health Laboratories, P.O. Box 287, Khartoum, Sudan
S. M. Omer
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In order to understand how the malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis Patton exists in the extremely hot and arid environment (mean annual rainfall 21 mm) in Northern Province, Sudan, regular sampling from breeding places and resting sites was undertaken during 1978 and 1979 at four villages along the River Nile downstream (i.e. northwards) from Dongola. The population density of A. arabiensis was lowest during the flood season (July—October) and increased as the river flow decreased during November—June. Thus there was an inverse relationship between the Nile water level and A. arabiensis production. Prolific breeding in riverside pools was the main source of A. arabiensis as the river receded. During the annual flood, when riverside pools were all inundated, A. arabiensis continued breeding at low densities in sheltered sites such as wells and pits. Breeding also occurred in all months in association with the weed Potamogeton crispus in slow reaches of the river. Adult females fed regularly on blood, with gonotrophic concordance in all months, and there was no evidence of aestivation. Outdoor biting activity occurred throughout the night, with a peak between 2100 and 0500 h. Daytime searches indoors and outdoors indicated that resting females A. arabiensis are almost entirely endophilic in the study area.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 76 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 451 - 467
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, J. P., Hamon, J. & Bailly-Choumara, H. (1960). Observations sur la biologie et le pouvoir vecteur d'une population d'Anopheles gambiae résistante a la dieldrine en Haute-Volta.—Bull. Soc. Path. exot. 53, 1043–1053.Google Scholar
Andrew, G. (1948). Geology of the Sudan.—pp. 84–128 in Tothill, J. D. (Ed.). Agriculture in the Sudan.—974 pp. London, Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Andrews, F. W. (1948). The vegetation of the Sudan.—pp. 32–61 in Tothill, J. D. (Ed.). Agriculture in the Sudan.—974 pp. London, Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Anon. (1976–1977). Sudan almanac. An annual official handbook compiled by the Ministry of Information and Culture, Khartoum, Sudan.—336 pp. Khartoum, Government Printing Press.Google Scholar
Bates, M. (1949). The natural history of mosquitoes.—379 pp. New York, Macmillan.Google Scholar
Brady, J. (1963). Results of age-grouping dissections on four species of Anopheles from southern Ghana.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 29, 147–153.Google Scholar
Bruce-Chwatt, L. J. (1957). An unusual epidemiology of malaria in south-eastern Nigeria.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 51, 411–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cave, F. O. & MacDonald, J. D. (1955). Birds of the Sudan, their identification and distribution.—444 pp. Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Choumara, R. (1961). Notes sur le paludisme au Somaliland.—Riv. Malar. 40, 9–34.Google Scholar
Christophers, S. R. (1960). Aëdes aegypti (L.), the yellow fever mosquito. Its life history, bionomics and structure.—739 pp. Cambridge, Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L. (1968). Wadi Halfa revisited.—Entomologist’s mon. Mag. 104, 42.Google Scholar
Coluzzi, M. & Sabatini, A. (1967). Cytogenetic observations on species A and B of the Anopheles gambiae complex.—Parassitologia 9, 73–88.Google Scholar
De Meillon, B. (1938). A note on Anopheles gambiae Giles and Anopheles coustani var. tenebrosus Donitz from southern Africa.—S. Afr. med. J. 12, 648–650.Google Scholar
De Meillon, B. (1947). The Anophelini of the Ethiopian Geographical Region.—Publs S. Afr. Inst. med. Res. no. 49, 272 pp.Google Scholar
Gad, A. N. & Sa'ad, A. M. (1974). Insects of medical importance in Aswan and Lake Nasser. Aswan Region Planning, Lake Nasser Development Centre.—pp. 1–37. Cairo, Government Press.Google Scholar
Gillies, M. T. (1956). A new character for the recognition of nulliparous females of Anopheles gambiae.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 15, 451–459.Google Scholar
Gillies, M. T. (1971). Anopheles gambiae as a potential invader. Assignment Report, Lake Nasser Development Centre (Health Aspects) ASWAN.—14 pp. Alexandria, Egypt, Wld Hlth Org. (EM/MAL/107 Egypt 0064/UNDPISF).Google Scholar
Gillies, M. T. (1974). Methods for assessing the density and survival of blood-sucking Diptera.—A. Rev. Ent. 19, 345–362.Google Scholar
Gillies, M. T. & De Meillon, B. (1968). The Anophelinae of Africa South of the Sahara (Ethiopian Zoogeographical Region).—Publs S. Afr. Inst. med. Res. no. 54, 343 pp.Google Scholar
Haddow, A. J., Gillett, J. D. & Highton, R. B. (1947). The mosquitoes of Bwamba county, Uganda. V.—The vertical distribution and biting-cycle of mosquitoes in rain-forest, with further observations on micro-climate.—Bull. ent. Res. 37, 301–330.Google Scholar
Hammerton, D. (1972). The Nile River—a case history.—pp. 171–214 in Oglesby, R. T., Clarence, A. C. & James, A. M. (Eds.). River biology and man.—New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hamon, J., Adam, J. P. & Grjebine, A. (1956). Observations sur la répartition et le comportement des anophèles de l'Afrique-Équatoriale Française, du Cameroun et de l'Afrique Occidentale.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 15, 549–591.Google Scholar
Haridi, A. M. (1972). Partial exophily of Anopheles gambiae species B in the Khashm Elgirba area in eastern Sudan.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 46, 39–46.Google ScholarPubMed
Hocking, K. S. & MacInnes, D. G. (1948). Notes on the bionomics of Anopheles gambiae and A. funestus in East Africa.—Bull. ent. Res. 39, 453–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holstein, M. (1954). Biology of Anopheles gambiae in Upper Volta, West Africa.—Monograph Ser. W.H.O. no. 29, 176 pp.Google Scholar
Hurst, H. E. & Philips, P. (1931). The Nile basin.—Cairo, Government Press.Google Scholar
Leeson, H. S. (1931). Anopheline mosquitos in Southern Rhodesia 1926–1928. A report on investigations made during researches on blackwater fever conducted by Dr. G. R. Ross.—55 pp. London, Lond. Sch. Hyg. Trop. Med. (Mem. Lond. Sch. Hyg. Trop. Med. no. 4).Google Scholar
Lewis, D. J. (1944). Observations on Anopheles gambiae and other mosquitoes at Wadi Halfa.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 38, 215–229.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. J. (1949). The extermination of Anopheles gambiae in the Wadi Halfa area.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 42, 393–402.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. J. (1956). The anopheline mosquitos of the Sudan.—Bull. ent. Res. 47, 475–494.Google Scholar
Mattingly, P. F. (1949). Studies on West African forest mosquitos.—Part I. The seasonal distribution, biting cycle and vertical distribution of four of the principal species.—Bull. ent. Res. 40, 149–168.Google Scholar
Muirhead-Thomson, R. C. (1947). Recent knowledge about malaria vectors in West Africa and their control.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 40, 511–536.Google Scholar
Muirhead-Thomson, R. C. (1968). Ecology of insect vector populations.—174 pp. London & New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Omer, S. M. (1968). Studies on the dry season biology of Anopheles gambiae Giles.—M.Sc. thesis, Univ. Khartoum, Sudan.Google Scholar
Omer, S. M. & Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L. (1970). Survival of female Anopheles gambiae Giles through a 9-month dry season in Sudan.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 42, 319–330.Google ScholarPubMed
Ramsdale, C. D. & Fontaine, R. E. (1970a). Ecological investigations of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus. I. Dry season studies in villages near Kaduna, Nigeria, 1970.—28 pp. Geneva, Wld Hlth Org. (WHO/VBC/70.248).Google Scholar
Ramsdale, C. D. & Fontaine, R. E. (1970b). Ecological investigations of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus. II. Dry season studies with colony-reared An. gambiae species B, Kaduna, Nigeria, 1970.—8 pp. Geneva, Wld Hlth Org. (WHO/VBC/70.249; WHO/MAL/736).Google Scholar
Rzoska, J. (1976). The Nile. A biology of an ancient river.—417 pp. The Hague, W. H. Junk.Google Scholar
Service, M. W. (1963). The ecology of the mosquitos of the Northern Guinea savannah of Nigeria.—Bull. ent. Res. 54, 601–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Service, M. W. (1980). A guide to medical entomology.—226 pp. London, Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shidrawi, G. R. (1970). The man-biting activity of Anopheles gambiae s.l. in DDT-sprayed and unsprayed villages of the dry savanna in Nigeria.—17 pp. Geneva, Wld Hlth Org. (WHO/VBC/70.179; WHO/MAC/70.720).Google Scholar
Shousha, A. T. (1948). Species-eradication. The eradication of Anopheles gambiae from Upper Egypt 1942–1945.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 1, 309–352.Google ScholarPubMed
Visser, W. M. (1965). Malaria eradication among the nomads of Somalia.—WHO Chron. 19, 232–239.Google Scholar
White, G. B. (1974). Anopheles gambiae complex and disease transmission in Africa.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 68, 278–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, G. B., Coluzzi, M. & Zahar, A. R. (1975). Review of cytogenetic studies on anopheline vectors of malaria.—35 pp. Geneva, Wld Hlth Org. (WHO/MAL/75.849; WHO/VBC/ 75.538).Google Scholar
WHO (World Health Organization) (1970). Practical entomology in malaria eradication. Report of a WHO Scientific Group.—Tech. Rep. Ser. Wld Hlth Org. no. 433.Google Scholar
Zahar, A. R. (1984). Vector bionomics in the epidemiology and control of malaria. Part I. The WHO African Region & the southern WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.—109 pp. Geneva, Wld Hlth Org. (VBC/84.6; MAP/84.3).Google Scholar