Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T20:11:14.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Studies on the biting habits of East African mosquitos in the genera Uranotaenia, Ficalbia and Hodgesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. J. Haddow
Affiliation:
From the East African Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
Yovani Ssenkubuge
Affiliation:
From the East African Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.

Extract

Mosquitos in the genera Uranotaenia and Ficalbia seldom bite man. In Africa, only two species, U. alboabdominalis Theo. and F. plumosa, (Theo.), have been taken actually engorging on man, though others may occasionally alight on the skin.

Hodgesia cyptopus Theo. bites man freely in forest, bush and plantations near Entebbe, Uganda, and sometimes enters houses.

The bimodal nature of the biting cycle of H. cyptopus in certain series of catches led to an investigation of the daily march of light intensity near the forest floor. It was found that at least in some areas this is bimodal, with a midday period of lower intensity—a pattern reflected in the biting behaviour of various forest mosquitos.

Though always diurnal, the biting cycle of H. cyptopus varies in form from station to station. It is thought that light intensity is of importance, and that this species probably bites in or around the small splashes of sunlight which penetrate the dense vegetation.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bacot, A. W. (1916). Report of the entomological investigation undertaken for the Commission for the year August 1914 to July 1915.—Rep. Yell. Fev. Comm., Lond. 3 pp. 1191.Google Scholar
Bates, M. (1944). Observations on the distribution of diurnal mosquitoes in a tropical forest.—Ecology 25 pp. 159170.Google Scholar
Bates, M. (1949). The adaptations of mosquitoes to the tropical rain forest environment.—Proc. Amcr. phil. Soc. 93 pp. 340346.Google Scholar
Boshell-Manrique, J. & Osorno-Mesa, E. (1944). Observations on the epidemiology of jungle yellow fever in Santander and Boyacá, Colombia, September, 1941, to April, 1942.—Amer. J. Hyg. 40 pp. 170181.Google Scholar
Causey, O. R. & Dos Santos, G. V. (1950). Diurnal mosquitoes in an area of small residual forests in Brazil.—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 42 pp. 471482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, G. E. & Philip, C. B. (1931). The identification of the blood-meal in West African mosquitoes by means of the precipitin test. A preliminary report.—Amer. J. Hyg. 14 pp. 130141.Google Scholar
Edwards, F. W. (1941). Mosquitoes of the Ethiopian Region. III. Culicine adults and pupae.—499 pp. London, Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.).Google Scholar
Gillett, J. D. (1951). The habits of the mosquito Aëdes (Stegomyia) simpsoni Theobald in relation to the epidemiology of yellow fever in Uganda.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 45 pp. 110121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddow, A. J. (1945). The mosquitoes of Bwamba County, Uganda. II. Biting activity with special reference to the influence of microclimate.—Bull. ent. Res. 36 pp. 3373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddow, A. J. (1954). Studies of the biting-habits of African mosquitos. An appraisal of methods employed, with special reference to the twenty-four-hour catch.—Bull. ent. Res. 45 pp. 199242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddow, A. J. (1960). Studies on the biting habits and medical importance of East African mosquitos in the genus Aëdes. I. Subgenera Aëdimorphus, Banksinella and Dunnius.—Bull. ent. Res. 50 pp. 759779.Google Scholar
Haddow, A. J. (1961). Entomological studies from a high tower in Mpanga Forest, Uganda. VII. The biting behaviour of mosquitoes and Tabanids.—Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 113 pp. 315335.Google Scholar
Haddow, A. J., van Someren, E. C. C., Lumsden, W. H. R., Harper, J. O. & Gillett, J. D. (1951). The mosquitoes of Bwamba County, Uganda. VIII. Records of occurrence, behaviour and habitat.—Bull. ent. Res. 42 pp. 207238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumm, H. W. & Novis, O. (1938). Mosquito studies on the Ilha de Marajó, Pará, Brazil.—Amer. J. Hyg. 27 pp. 498515.Google Scholar
Lumsden, W. H. R. (1956). A trap to estimate the biting insect attack on small vertebrates.—Rep. E. Afr. Virus Res. Inst. 1955—56 pp. 3337.Google Scholar
Macdonald, W. W. (1957). Malaysian parasites. XVI. An interim review of the non-Anopheline mosquitoes of Malaya.—Stud. Inst. med. Res. Malaya no. 28 pp. 134.Google Scholar
Mattingly, P. F. (1949). Studies on West African forest mosquitos. Part II. The less commonly occurring species.—Bull. ent. Res. 40 pp. 387402.Google Scholar
Philip, C. B. (1931). Two new species of Uranotaenia (Culicidae) from Nigeria, with notes on the genus in the Ethiopian Region.—Bull. ent. Res. 22 pp. 183193.Google Scholar
Reid, J. A. (1961). The attraction of mosquitos by human or animal baits in relation to the transmission of disease.—Bull. ent. Res. 52 pp. 4362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Remington, C. L. (1945). The feeding habits of Uranotaenia lowii Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae).—Ent. News 56 pp. 3237; 64.Google Scholar
Richards, P. W. (1952). The tropical rain forest: an ecological study.—450 pp. Cambridge, Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Shannon, R. C. (1931). On the classification of Brazilian Culicidae with special reference to those capable of harboring the yellow fever virus.—Proc. ent. Soc. Wash. 33 pp. 125164.Google Scholar
Van Someren, E. C. C., Teesdale, C. & Furlong, M. (1955). The mosquitos of the Kenya Coast; records of occurrence, behaviour and habitat.—Bull, ent. Res. 46 pp. 463493.Google Scholar
Stone, A., Knight, K. L. & Starcke, H. (1959). A synoptic catalog of the mosquitoes of the world (Diptera, Culicidae).—Thomas Say Foundn 6 358 pp. Washington, D.C., Ent. Soc. Amer.Google Scholar
Williams, M. C. (1956). Bird-biting mosquitoes in the Entebbe area.—Rep. E. Afr. Virus Res. Inst. 1955–56 pp. 4244.Google Scholar