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

RIBEIRO, H. & RAMOS, H. Cunha -- <strong>Research</strong> on the mosquitoes of Angola X
the Angolan populations of pipiens s. str. and quinquel'asciatus seem to
be reproductively isolated and would be treated as two distinct species.
Interestingly enough, this was also the same view already expressed by
an eminent entomologist working in South Africa, who wrote: [J. Muspratt (73).] In fact, the situation in
Southern Africa (Southern Angola included) is obviously quite different
from that found in the United States or even in Australia, and it seems
that the understanding of these differences may be of decisive importance
to the understanding of the systematics of the pipiens complex
itself.
As in all generalized species, the adult external morphology of quinquefasciatus
is subjected to marked variation which was accounted
for in the construction of the adult key given above under 6.
BIOECOLOGICAL NOTES. Data on the bioecology of the quinque-
/asciatus populations of Luanda and Lobito were already published (34)
(50) (69). The following account concerns only the unpublished obser-
vations on quinque/asciatus since then carried out throughout the
country.
From the 36 breeding places here recorded (confirmed by the
terminalia of reared males), 19 were artificial containers, 16 ground
water biotopes and 1 was a hole in a rotting fallen baobab trunk. The
artificial containers (16 in peridomestic habitat and 2 others inside
human habitation) were as follows: barrels and drums with stored
water for domestic uses (10), old rubber tyres (4), cement tanks and
drains (3) and ornamental vases (2). As ground water breeding sites
of quinque/asciatus, the following were recorded: oppen shallow earth
wells and borrow-pits, usually with turbid, greenish water and decaying
plants and debris (7), open sewage efluents (5), grassy margins of slow
flowing streams (3) and a dich with fallen leaves and vegetable debris
(1). The breeding sites were either completely exposed to sunlight,
sometimes with a surface temperature of 30øC, or markedly shaded
or even indoor biotopes. Besides the occurrence of quinquefasciatus in
association with the sewage disposal, foul water was also common in
the remaining of its breeding area. On the other hand, there is also
some ability of this mosquito to breed in brackish water. The salt
Estud., Ens. e Doc.---134 97