Abstract
To the Editor: The primary malaria control techniques, indoor application of residual insecticides and insecticide-treated bed nets, are used on the basis of previously assumed key characteristics of behaviors of vectors of malaria parasites, i.e., resting and feeding indoors (1). Any deviation from the typical activities of a species related to exophagy (feeding outdoors) and exophily (living and resting indoors) (2) or to population replacement, followed by increased outdoor biting or resting (3), may undermine malaria control efforts. Identification of mosquitoes that transmit malaria parasites has, for the most part, relied on the use of outdated morphologic keys (4,5) and, more recently, species-diagnostic PCR (6). Cryptic species or subpopulations that exhibit divergent behaviors (7) may be responsible for maintaining malaria parasite transmission, and without adequate discriminatory techniques, these vectors may be misidentified and their key behavioral differences overlooked.
Highlights
*ITS2, ribosomal second internal transcribed spacer; CO1, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1; †Sequence groups of caught specimens arbitrarily named species A–J are ranked by abundance
NA, not applicable; ‡, no published sequences found with at least 90% homology to those of specimens
Summary
Novel Vectors of Malaria Parasite in the Western Highlands of Kenya
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