Comparison of life table attributes from newly established colonies of Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles vestitipennis in northern Belize

Abstract

A life table study was conducted for recently established colonies of Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles vestitipennis in Belize, Central America. The colonies were reared in the northern Orange Walk District under uncontrolled environmental conditions (29-32 degrees C, 87-90% RH, and 13:11 L:D photoperiod). The mean time of larval development for An. albimanus was 10.8 days for males and 11.7 days for females. Mean times for An. vestitipennis larval development were 11.3 days for males and 13.5 days for females. Anopheles albimanus exhibited a 92% survival rate from egg hatch to adult emergence, while that of An. vestitipennis was 82%. Neither species showed a sex ratio that was significantly different from 1:1. Adult male An. albimanus lived for an average of 13.6 days, while the females lived for an average of 21.2 days. The An. vestitipennis adult males lived for a mean of 14.8 days, while the females lived considerably longer with a mean of 25.6 days. The reproductive rate and age of mean cohort reproduction were calculated as 287 and 11.3 days for An. albimanus and 302 and 13.4 days for An. vestitipennis. The r/B and B/D ratios of 0.13 and 1.15, respectively, for An. albimanus and 0.1 and 1.1, respectively, for An. vestitipennis indicate that these species have a low potential for colonization.