Blood-feeding and resting behaviour in the Anopheles punctulatus Dönitz complex (Diptera: Culicidae) from coastal Papua New Guinea

Samples of engorged outdoor-resting females of the complex of Anopheles punctulatus Donitz, primarily A. farauti Laveran, were obtained from villages in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, in 1981–83 and their blood-meal sources identified. The proportion of the population feeding on man varied considerably from village to village according to the number of animals, particularly pigs, available as alternative hosts. Using a unique host in a mark–release–recapture experiment, the distance flown by engorged females of A. farauti was found to be generally less than 50 m. In one village, the gonotrophic age of a subsample of 1523 females of A. farauti was obtained and in 503 of these the electrophoretic pattern of the enzyme phosphoglucomutase (PGM) determined. Tests of association were per formed on the data. However, no significant relationship was found between host source, gonotrophic age and allelic type of PGM. Thus, separate subpopulations of A. farauti were not identified within this village. The relevance of the results to the epidemiology of malaria is discussed.