Lefèvre Thierry, Gouagna Louis-Clément, Dabiré K.R., Elguero Eric, Fontenille Didier, Renaud François, Costantini Carlo, Thomas F. (2009). Beyond nature and nurture : phenotypic plasticity in blood-feeding behavior of Anopheles gambiae s.s. When humans are not readily accessible. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 81 (6), p. 1023-1029. ISSN 0002-9637.
Titre du document
Beyond nature and nurture : phenotypic plasticity in blood-feeding behavior of Anopheles gambiae s.s. When humans are not readily accessible
Lefèvre Thierry, Gouagna Louis-Clément, Dabiré K.R., Elguero Eric, Fontenille Didier, Renaud François, Costantini Carlo, Thomas F.
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2009,
81 (6), p. 1023-1029 ISSN 0002-9637
To test for the effects of host accessibility oil blood-feeding behavior, we assessed degrees of anthropophily of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae at two stages of the behavioral sequence of host foraging in a rice growing area near Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, where humans are not readily accessible because of years of generalized use of (mostly non-impregnated) bed nets. First, patterns of lost selection were assessed by the identification of the blood meal origin of indoor-resting samples. Inherent host preferences were then determined by two odor-baited entry traps, set side by side in a choice arrangement, releasing either human or calf odor. The proportion of feeds taken oil humans was around 40%, whereas 88% of trapped An. gambiae "chose" the human-baited trap, indicating a zoophilic pattern of host selection despite a stronger trap entry response with human odor. This paradox can be interpreted as the evolution of a plastic strategy of feeding behavior in this field population of An. gambiae because of the greater accessibility of readily available, although less-preferred, hosts.
