Host-feeding patterns of the mosquito community (Diptera: Culicidae) in two Faiyum Governorate villages, Egypt.

Abstract

Mosquitoes in 2 neighboring villages of Faiyum Governorate, Egypt, were sampled from April to December 1983 to determine host-feeding patterns. A total of 1,751 blood meals from 9 mosquito species were analyzed by the modified precipitin technique, and estimates of host availability were made by census in both villages. Species composition and feeding habits differed in the 3 habitats sampled: inside houses, inside animal sheds, and outdoors. In outdoor collections of Culex pipiens, Cx. antennatus, Cx. univittatus, Aedes caspius, and Anopheles pharoensis, at least 92% of all blood meals were human, bovine, or equine, and a few individuals of each species, except Ae. caspius, fed on birds. Uranotaenia unguiculata was the only species that fed on reptiles; no samples from this species reacted with mammal or bird antisera. Most blood meals from 8 species collected inside houses were from humans. In sheds, blood meals of 6 species were primarily from other large mammals. Forage ratios calculated for the 4 most abundant species from outdoor collections, based on the proportion of humans, bovines, ovines, and equines in each village, were low for humans and high for ovines and equines.