Species composition of the Anopheles gambiae complex (diptera: Culicidae) at two sites in western Kenya.

ABSTRACT At sites the Kisumu of Kenya, the species composition of the Anopheles gambiae complex determined by analysis of ovarian polytene chromo- Of 1,915 females, 26.1% An. arabiensis Patton and 73.9% An. gambiae Giles; arabiensis gambiae hybrid identified. No major differences in the proportions of An. arabiensis and An. gambiae observed between sites between years. The ratio of An. arabiensis/An. gambiae 6.7:1 (n 231) cow-baited traps, 0.2:1 (n 1,525) in indoor resting samples, and 0.5:1 (n 145) in all-night human bait catches. The proportion of An. arabiensis decreased progressively from 50.0% 8.3% (n 1,129) during 11 wk from September November 1987; this change correlated negatively with night perature and positively with temperature range. In cow-baited traps, 97.4% (n 194) of An. arabiensis cow-fed and 95.8% (n 1,054) of An. gambiae from indoor resting collections human-fed. In indoor collections, 37.2% (n 215) of An. arabiensis cow-fed and 23.1% (n 26) of An. gambiae from traps human-fed. This dempost- blood-feeding endophily by An. arabiensis .and suggests post-blood-feeding exophily by An. gambiae. Malaria infection higher for An. gambiae than for An. arabiensis by ratio of 3:1 1986 (by Plasmodium falciparum ELISA) and 2.3:1 in 1987 (by dissection). Despite the higher proportion of infective An. gambiae, both species this efficient through their remarkably stable with the human population demonstrated by their blood feeding and resting behavior.