In 1949 and 1950 studies were made of the flight range and longevity of the principal anthropophilic species of Simuliidae in the region of San Pedro Yepocapa, Guatemala (1, 2). Since it was determined in these studies that the adult females could traverse distances as great as 9.7 miles, measured as a straight line on the map, and that they could live at least 85 days, considering only the time from marking to recapture, it was decided to repeat the experiments using flies that had been permitted to feed on persons known to be infected with onchocerciasis and known to be infective to the flies. It was hoped that this study would help explain the restricted distribution of the disease in Guatemala by showing the effect of infection on the flight range and longevity of the flies. Such information would also be useful in formulating effective anti-Similium measures for the control of human onchocerciasis.
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Dalmat et al. (1952) studied this question.