Atmospheric Stimulation of Man-biting Activity in Tropical Insects 1

Abstract

Data collected in the tropical forest of the Bayano River Basin, Republic of Panama, during the years 1973 through 1978 are used to test the hypothesis that there may be atmospheric stimulation which influences biting activity in haematophagous insects and this may be used to predict the probability of man being bitten by these insects. The data show that although some biting may occur over a wide range of temperature and dew point temperature, the maximum biting activity occurs in narrow ranges of these variables. There is a seasonality in the pattern of insect biting and the monthly rainfall patterns. During the period January through June, when about 25% of the annual rain has occurred, there is an 80% probability of being bitten by a mosquito while from July through December there is an 80% probability of being bitten by a phlebotomine in this tropical forest.