Rhythms in the biting behaviour of a mosquito Armigeres subalbatus

Abstract

Summary. The biting cycle of Armigeres subalbatus is distinctly crepuscular, exhibiting two peaks of activity, a smaller one at dawn and a larger one at dusk. The biting cycle is entrained to natural light-dark cycles and the time interval from dawn to dawn or dusk to dusk peaks is exactly 24 h and from dawn to dusk or dusk to dawn is about 12 h measured at 50% level. This rhythm manifests itself day after day without any marked qualitative change.The rate of change of light intensity may determine the onset of crepuscular biting. The sudden increase (up to ca. 17 lx) or decrease (down to ca. 4 lx) in the intensity of ambient light at the time of sunrise or sunset coincides with the peak of the biting activity.The density of the population of the host-seeking females fluctuates in relation to the phases of the moon, increasing with the full moon phase and decreasing with the new moon phase.Even though the density of the population is greater outdoors than indoors both at ground level and in the first floor, the peak of activity occurs at the same time in all the places. A vertical stratification of biting activity was also noticed.

Original article. Biting behavior of Malaysian mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus Skuse, Armigeres kesseli Ramalingam, Culex quinquefasciatus Say, and Culex vishnui Theobald obtained from urban residential areas in Kuala Lumpur

“…Biting behavior of Ar. kesseli as shown in this study was distinctly crepuscular, exhibiting two peaks of activity similar to those reported by Pandian and Chandrashekaran [21]. According to Ramalingam [31], Armigeres species is a semidomestic species of which the larvae bred in coconut shells, bamboo stumps, leaf axils, and rotting fruits, and the larvae could tolerate highly polluted water bodies.…”

“…Host-seeking behavior or biting behavior of different species mosquitoes has been well documented. However, all these studies were conducted in countries outside Malaysia, including Brazil [15], Nigeria [16], The Philippines [17], Thailand [18,19], and India [20,21], all having different timing of sunrise and sunset. In addition, the timing as mentioned by the above researchers may not correspond to the standard regional time.…”

Sampling Adults by Animal Bait Catches and by Animal-Baited Traps

“…Furthermore, although Corbet (1964) found that the numbers of mosquitoes caught in light-traps above the forest canopy may be less on nights with a full moon, there was no evidence that their times of appearance significantly differed from those recorded on nights with little moonlight. In human bait collections in India the biting cycle was exactly the same whether catches were performed in houses or out of doors (Pandian & Chandrashekaran, 1980). Similarly Krafsur (1977) reported that endophagic and exophagic Anopheles in Ethiopia had similar biting cycles.…”

“…Many nocturnal mosquitoes are more numerous in bait catches on nights of full moon (Bidlingmayer, 1964;Charlwood et al, 1986c;Pandian & Chandrashekaran, 1980), it being suggested that this is due to moonlight enhancing the mosquito's ability to locate hosts, and also oviposition sites (Allan et aI., 1987;Charlwood et al, 1988). In Senegal Hervy et al (1986) found that Aedes taylori increased in numbers at human bait during moonlit nights, and in China Wang & Chang (1957) found that biting and flight activities of Anopheles sinensis were greater during moonlit nights.…”

Dietary Benefits of Twilight Foraging by the Insectivorous Bat Hipposideros speoris1

“…, dusk and dawn) than true night, many species leave their roosts before dark (Jones & Rydell 1994), potentially exposing themselves to diurnal predators (Fenton et al 1994). Jones and Rydell (1994) have proposed that twilight activity allowed bats to exploit Nematocera and other small flies that show marked peaks in flight activity during twilight (especially at dusk) and very little activity during most of true night (Pandian & Chandrashekaran 1980, Racey & Swift 1985, Rydell et al 1996. Jones and Rydell (1994) have proposed that twilight activity allowed bats to exploit Nematocera and other small flies that show marked peaks in flight activity during twilight (especially at dusk) and very little activity during most of true night (Pandian & Chandrashekaran 1980, Racey & Swift 1985, Rydell et al 1996.…”