Abstract
Studies were conducted between June and October, 2013 on the species composition, relative abundance and physicochemical conditions of breeding microhabitats of Anopheles mosquitoes in rock pools within Kaduna State, Nigeria. Plastic soup ladle dipper was used to obtain representative samples of mosquitoes in 269 rock pools on 21 inselbergs. Mosquito larvae were reared to adults on yeast diet, preserved dry on silica gel and identified morphologically with the use of a stereo microscope. Extracted genomic DNA of preserved mosquito specimens were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by electrophoresis to discriminate sibling species. Three physical and ten chemical properties of larval microhabitats were determined in situ and in the laboratory using standard protocols. A total of 12(57.14%) of the 21 inselbergs supported anopheline mosquitoes' breeding from which 84 adults were reared successfully. Identified mosquitoes belonged to five species and one species complex which included 2(2.38%) An. arabiensis Patton, 45(53.77%) An. gambiae Giles s.l., 30(35.71%) An. gambiae Giles s.s. , 1(1.19%) An. Longipalpis Theobald, 1(1.19%) An. pretoriensis Theobald and 5(5.95%) An. rufipes Gough. Ranges of hydro-physical (depths and surface areas) differ significantly (P 0.05) in their ability to support breeding of mosquito species. The study observed the breeding, in sympatry, of two of the most important malaria vectors ( An. gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis ) in rock pools.
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