Anopheles species

Anopheles species distribution

A total of 4255 adult mosquitoes were obtained from rearing of the immature stages that were collected from breeding sites (Additional file 2: Table S1). Mosquito counts did not statistically differ between the sampling years (Chi-square test; χ 2 = 20, df = 16, P = 0.22), but their proportions per site (relative to the total number of mosquitoes collected) were different between study sites (Kruskal test; χ 2 = 66.44, df = 9, P <0.0001). Nine confirmed and distinct Anopheles species were identified ( Fig. 2 View Fig ), which included the minor species An. coustani , An. pharoensis , An. pretoriensis , An. rufipes and An. squamosus , together accounting for 2.9% of the mosquitoes analyzed. Te predominant An. gambiae sensu stricto ( An. gambiae s.s.) (38.6%), An. coluzzii (37.4%) and An. arabiensis (5.4%) were mostly identified through SINE PCR and RFLP while the other species were distinguished with the ANOSPP algorithm. About 3.7% of the samples were determined to be An. gambiae sensu lato ( An. gambiae s.l.), and 1.6% were identified broadly as belonging to the genus Anopheles but could not be further distinguished. About 10% of mosquito samples remained unidentified. Zebilla, which is in the Sudan Savannah eco-zone in the north of the country, had the highest species richness, while Dodowa, in the Coastal Savannah in the south of the country, was the least diverse ( Fig. 2 View Fig ). Mosquito species distribution, however, showed no association with ecological zones (Kruskal test; χ 2 = 10.81, df = 5, P = 0.05).