title: Survivorship of immature stages of Anopheles gambiae s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae) in natural habitats in western Kenya highlands.
abstract: We examined the survivorship of Anopheles gambiae s.l. Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae and habitat productivity in three major habitat types in the western Kenya highlands. The age-specific distribution was determined for larvae and pupae, and survivorship curves were constructed. Larval-to-pupal survivorship was 6.8% in drainage ditches, 4.3% in cow hoofprints, and 1.8% in disused goldmines, respectively. High mortality rates were observed in all developmental stages. The estimated daily survival rate was highest in drainage ditches (0.74), followed by cow hoofprints (0.71), and it was lowest in disused goldmines (0.62). Productivity of emerging An. gambiae adults was generally low in these larval habitats (1.35, 1.55, and 1.84 mosquitoes per m2 per wk in drainage ditches, disused goldmines, and cow hoofprints, respectively). In total, seven families of larval mosquito predators were identified from the larval habitats, including Hydrophilidae, Dytiscidae, Corixidae, Nepidae, Notonectidae, Belostomatidae, and Cordulidae. Predator density in disused goldmines was significantly higher than that of other habitat types. Determination of the relative importance of predation, habitat stability and food contents on natural mosquito habitat productivity would help to design cost-effective vector control methods specifically targeted at the productive habitats.
authors.affiliation: Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Vector Biology and Control Research, P.O. Box 1578, Kisumu, Kenya.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Munga
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minakawa
authors.forename: Guofa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Githeko
authors.forename: Guiyun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D017753:Ecosystem; D020387:Food Chain; D007630:Kenya; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D011156:Population Density; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D014867:Water