Biting times of nine species of New Guinea Culicidae (Diptera).

Abstract

Twenty-four hour collections from man at Cape Moem and dusk-to-dawn collections in both coastal and inland villages in the Sepik District, Territory of Papua and New Guinea, have provided biting times for the nocturnal species Anopheles punctulatus Dönitz, An. farauti Laveran, An. koliensis Owen, Mansonia papuensis (Taylor), Aedes nocturnus (Theobald), Gulex sitiens Wiedemann, C. annulirostris Skuse and, for the diurnal, Armigeres breinli (Taylor) and Aedes scutellaris (Walker). A comparison of catches of An. punctulatus, An. farauti and An. koliensis showed that all three species were active earlier in the night in the inland region than on the coast. The difference is considered due partly to the different physical environment in houses in the two areas and partly to the location of breeding sites. The small proportion of the total An. farauti biting catch taken after sunrise is not considered to present a serious threat to the success of malaria control programs. Ae. scutellaris is noted as a potentially dangerous vector of hemorrhagic fever and G. annulirostris as a potential vector of arboviruses.