Research on the mosquitoes of Angola - Systematic Catalog of ...

RIBgIRO, H. & RAM08, H. Cunha -- <strong>Research</strong> o the mosquitoes of ,4ngola -- X
is also a widespread and common mosquito in the savannas and highland
biomes (Maps 15 and 3).
BIOEGOLOGICAL NOTES. 42 breeding places were recorded from
C. antennatus, 39 of them consisting of ground water: pools at river
edges and backwaters (12), ground pools (10), irrigation drains (5), river
margins, usualy overflown (4), pools in river beds and shallow earth
wells (2, each) and a wheel track. Though being mainly a ground water
breeder, larval antennatus was also recorded from cement water-tanks (2)
and from a river boat.
As a rule, the breeding places of antennatus were either scarcely
shaded or even unshaded. The characteristics of the breeding water
ranged widely from clean, limpid water, sometimes with Pistia or Lemna,
to turbid water with an appreciable organic matter content. The pH of
the breeding water, measured in 20 biotopes, varied between 5.3 and 8.0
(mean 6.7). The salt content in 9 biotopes examined ranged from 0.2 to
5.7 (mean 1.5) g/1 (NaCl).
Geaera Culex (14 species) and Anopheles (7 species) were the only
mosquito genera significantly associated with larval antennatus. The most
frequently associated species were C. univittatus (in 23 biotopes), An.
gambiae (13), An. squamosus, C. poicilipes and C. tigripes (8, each), An.
coustani and C. p. pipiens (7, each) and An. argenteolobatus and An.
pharoensis (4, each), while An. listeri, C. simpsoni form A and C. telesilla
(3 times, each) occurred as associated species in the South-west Arid Zone
(Map 3). Other species were recorded as occasional associates in less
than 5 per cent of the breeding places.
Figs. 6 and 14 illustrate two antennatus breeding sites.
24 antennatus females were caught as such, not laboratory-reared.
19 out of these were caught at rest in cow-houses (from 18.00 to 19.00
hours), most of them gorged. Other 3 females were found at rest inside
human habitations and only 2 antennatus females were seen biting man
at dusk (18.00-18.30), in the open. Occasional man-biting was also
observed by Haddow et al. (35), in Uganda, by Someren et al. (49), in
Kennya, and by Hamon (37), in the Upper Volta. C. antennatus seems to
be, thus, mainly a zoophilic mosquito which in areas of more intensive
breeding may, in fact, attack man.
Estud., Etas. e Doc.- 134 71