Human blood-feeding rates among sympatric sibling species of Anopheles quadrimaculatus mosquitoes in northern Florida

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1996 May;54(5):523-5. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1996.54.523.

Abstract

We compared rates of feeding on human hosts for blood-engorged female Anopheles quadrimaculatus species A, B and C1 collected from daytime resting sites in Manatee Springs State Park, Levy County, Florida during 1992-1993. Quick-blot DNA probes were used to identify mosquito taxa and also the presence of human blood in the mosquito gut. In collections from a campground area, human blood-feeding rates differed significantly among mosquito species (10.7% [19 of 177], 0%, [0 of 62], and 1.2%, [4 of 327]), respectively for species A, B and C1). In collections from a woodland site (1 km from the campground), 1.5% (2 of 129) of the species B females had fed on humans, whereas none of 19 species A or 159 species C1 females had done so. Of the three species in this study area, species A appears the most likely to be a biting pest of humans and a vector of human malaria.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anopheles / classification
  • Anopheles / physiology*
  • Appetitive Behavior
  • DNA Probes
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology
  • Female
  • Florida
  • Humans
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • DNA Probes