Plasmodium cynomolgi: Effects of malaria infection on laboratory flight performance of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes

Abstract

The effect of Plasmodium cynomolgi parasitic development on the flight performance of Anopheles stephensi was evaluated using laboratory flight mills. Four-day-old mosquitoes were fed on either infective or noninfective rhesus monkeys and were flown at 6 and 12 days postinfection. Analysis of 19 flight variables indicated that noninfected mosquitoes exhibited superior flight characteristics. The most significant reductions in flight performance were shown after 12 days of parasitic development; these were distance flown, flight speed, length of initial flight, and longest flight. Correlation of weighted variables showed that various parameters associated with mosquito infectivity and flight performance operated independently of one another and reductions in flight capability were positively correlated to the severity of plasmodial infection. The effect appears to be indirect and may be associated with a decrease in the availability of carbohydrates used for flight energy.