The Rôle of Some Common Anopheline Mosquitoes of Panama in the Transmission of Malaria
Lloyd E. Rozeboom
From the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, Panama, R. de P.
1. In seven experiments, a total of 100 A. albitarsis and 113A. albimanus controls were fed on P. falciparum gametocyte carriers;4, or 4.0 per cent, of the albitarsis became lightly infected,while 37, or 32.7 per cent, of the albimanus controls becameinfected, many of them heavily, indicating that A. albitarsisin Panama is quite refractory to infection with P. falciparum,as compared with A. albimanus.
2. A. bachmanni can be infectedwith human malaria parasites,but its preference for animalblood renders it harmless so faras malaria transmission inPanama is concerned.
3. A. punctimacula frequently seeks bloodin man's habitations,but it also feeds on animals. It is tooscarce to be of importancein malaria transmission in the ChagresRiver villages.
4. The long list of Anophelines known to bepresent in Panamais an imposing one; however, as most of thespecies are rare,limited in their distribution, seasonal intheir breeding habits,or are animal feeders, malaria controlin Panama is still dependentupon the control of the only reallydangerous Anopheline presentin this region: Anopheles albimanus.