title: Relationship between female Anopheles dirus (Diptera: Culicidae) body size and parity in a biting population.
abstract: Wing length of host-seeking Anopheles dirus Peyton & Harrison was measured in Tha-Mai District, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand. Overall, wing length of nulliparous females (mean = 3.035 mm) was not significantly smaller than that of parous females (mean = 3.039 mm). Wing length was correlated with rainfall and minimum air temperature; females tended to be smaller in the rainy season and larger in the cool and early dry seasons, often in association with a high parity rate. Malaria transmission potential based on daily survivorship was estimated to be highest during the cool and early dry seasons, and during the first half of the rainy season.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitthawee
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Edman
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Upatham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D001824:Body Constitution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings; D007303:Insect Vectors; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission; D010298:Parity; D012621:Seasons; D013785:Thailand