The attractiveness of some birds and mammals for mosquitoes in The Gambia, West Africa.

Abstract

In separate experiments in a savanna area of The Gambia, mosquitoes attacking chickens, pigeons, ducks, goats, a man and a calf were compared in baited traps. Anopheles melas and Culex thalassius were common at all baits, but An. melas predominated only in the catches from mammals, where it formed 60-75% of the total catch. Aedes spp., mainly Ae. albocephalus and Ae. punctothoracis, and C. tritaeniorhynchus were a significant component in the mammal-baited catches but were poorly represented at avian baits. In contrast, C. invidiosus, C. neavei, C. tigripes and C. weschei made up a major part (20-32%) of the catches only in the bird-baited traps. Freshwater An. gambiae, probably An. gambiae s.s., were separated from An. melas on palpal index measurements. An. gambiae was taken in significantly larger numbers at man compared with the other baits where few were identified, demonstrating the extreme anthropophily of this species.