Comparative susceptibility of different members of the Anopheles culicifacies complex to Plasmodium vivax

Three colonized species of the Anopheles culicifacies complex (species A, B and C) were compared with Anopheles stephensi (control) for susceptibility to Plasmodium vivax. In feeding experiments involving over 400 paired comparisons, the mean number of oocysts, oocyst rate and sporozoite rate were found to be significantly different. Of the test groups, species A had the highest percentage of mosquitoes with oocysts (> 60%) and sporozoites (> 50%). An. culicifacies species B were least susceptible, less than 5% had oocysts and less than 2% had sporozoites in the salivary glands. The results are discussed in the light of the vectorial potential of the members of the An. culicifacies complex observed in field studies.