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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Mosquito control programs are most effective when larval habitats are identified for elimination or treatment with insecticides as part of an integrated vector management effort. Members of the An. gambiae complex of sub-Saharan Africa characteristically breed in temporary ground-pools close to human habitations or in more extensive water surfaces such as rice fields, river edges, or swamp margins.9 During a comprehensive survey of treeholes in Kenya in 1981, Lounibos10 found no Anopheles mosquito larvae. However, the types of trees surveyed during that study consisted of native species, which have been reduced by deforestation, especially in the densely populated regions of Kenya, and replaced with cultivated species. In his surveys, larvae of Aedes (Stegomyia) species were most commonly found in treeholes. These species are adapted to treeholes through possession of desiccation-resistant eggs laid on the bark of phytotelemata when drying.11 The return of rain leads to hatching of the embryonated eggs. In contrast, other species use treeholes opportunistically, including the pantropical Southern House Mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus.12 A preliminary survey of aquatic habitats in western Kenya suggested the presence of An. gambiae larvae in several previously unreported habitat types, including treeholes.13 In view of the significance of this finding, a more detailed survey of exotic and indigenous plants with treeholes in western Kenya was undertaken. Here we detail the results of our findings.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Longitudinal assessments.
To evaluate the consistency of treehole use by mosquitoes for oviposition over time, more detailed studies were made of 10 Flamboyant trees (Delonix regia) on the grounds of the Lumumba Health Clinic in the city of Kisumu, Kenya (Figure 2
). Each tree contained a single treehole with the exception of one, which contained three. The treeholes were evaluated during 21 visits (6 December 2003 to 20 March 2004) no more than 1 week apart. Collections of larvae and pupae were made with as little disturbance to the habitats as possible using plastic pipettes. Subsequent to these assessments, the maximum potential volume of each habitat and height of treehole above the ground were determined for purposes of correlating mosquito productivity with these habitat characteristics.
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Oviposition choice experiments. Cage bioassays were used to determine water source preferences for gravid An. gambiae. Experiments were conducted at the Mbita Point Field Station, from 1 January to 15 April 2003, using human-fed An. gambiae s.s. from a colony maintained at the ICIPE Research Station at Mbita Point. Water samples were collected from Flamboyant and Leucaena treeholes located in Mosocho and Mbita. Alternate substrates consisted of water obtained from Lake Victoria and distilled water. Experiments took place in a screen house insectary, where temperature, humidity, and diurnal variation were the same as that of the ambient conditions in Mbita. Thirty x 30 x 30-cm mesh-netted cages were used for the experiments. Thirty-milliliter cups were used to hold 20 mL of the different water substrates, which were placed at opposite corners of the mesh cages. A single blood-fed gravid female An. gambiae mosquito was placed into each cage at 1700 hours, and the mosquitoes were allowed to oviposit for 24 hours. The following day, cups were removed and checked for presence/absence of eggs under a dissecting microscope. Concurrent with all choice experiments, cages were prepared containing one of the two control substrates with single gravid blood-fed females to establish if the mosquito would oviposit on the competing substrate when given no alternative.
| RESULTS |
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Longitudinal assessments.
In a series of 21 assessments (December 2003 to March 2004) from Flamboyant trees on the grounds of Lumumba Health Clinic in Kisumu, Anopheles larvae were consistently found at lower densities than Culex or Aedes larvae. Maximum potential habitat volume ranged from 1.0 to 27.3 L (mean = 7.2 L, SD = 7.4 L). Three of the treeholes contained water during every assessment. Seven treeholes were dry for one or two assessments. One treehole was dry six times, and another was dry seven times. With exclusion of these last two treeholes from analysis, there is a strong negative correlation between the log of habitat volume and the number of times it was found to be dry (R = –0.642, P = 0.045). (All correlations reported are Pearsons R, SPSS 11.0; SPSS, Chicago, IL.) Maximum potential volume data were log-transformed to reduce the skewing effects of a single outlier. Partial correlation coefficients (controlling for drying of habitats) were calculated for comparing larval production with habitat volume. This showed that habitat size was strongly correlated with production of Culex (R = 0.612, P = 0.045) and Aedes (R = 0.515, P = 0.105) larvae but not with that of Anopheles larvae (R = 0.176, P = 0.606). Height of treehole above the ground ranged from 42 to 212 cm (mean = 122.6 cm, SD = 60.0 cm) and showed a strong, but statistically insignificant, negative correlation with Anopheles production (R = –0.554, P = 0.061). Height of the habitat did not correlate with Aedes (R = –0.043, P = 0.895) or Culex (R = –0.097, P = 0.764) larval production (Figure 3
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Total number of Anopheles collected over 1 month (using five assessments) was not significantly correlated with habitat volume (R = 0.127, P = 0.695) and had a strong but not statistically significant negative correlation with height above ground (R = –0.387, P = 0.214). Total number of Aedes strongly correlated with habitat volume (R = 0.497, P = 0.100) but not with height above ground (R = –0.262, P = 0.410). There was a very strong positive correlation between the number of Anopheles and that of Aedes in the habitats (R = 0.853, P < 0.001).
Oviposition choice experiments.
In oviposition choice experiments, gravid female Anopheles gambiae s.s. laid eggs in only one of the two water substrate choices. A binomial test for significance was calculated using a test proportion of 0.50 for the presence of eggs in the cups. Eggs were found more often in water from Flamboyant and Leucaena treeholes than in either distilled water or lake water (Table 2
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| DISCUSSION |
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In addition to the major ecological changes that have taken place since the comprehensive studies of treehole mosquitoes in Kenya by Lounibos, there is the geographical barrier of the Rift Valley between the areas in his study and the present one. The Rift Valley has been shown to be a significant barrier to gene flow in An. gambiae and may be a second cause for the failure of Lounibos to find Anopheles.10,19
Although altitude has been thought to play an important role in limiting malaria in the tropical highlands by negatively influencing the development of vector mosquitoes, An. gambiae were found in high densities in treeholes in Kisii town, which is at 1,650 m above sea level, and in surrounding areas at altitudes > 2,000 ms (FX Omlin, unpublished data). This finding along with the discovery of high densities of ground-pool–inhabiting An. gambiae in disturbed habitats13 suggests that altitude itself is insufficient to prevent the development of vector mosquitoes.
The large treehole habitats in Flamboyant trees (Figure 3
) are similar to the temporary ground pools traditionally used by An. gambiae larvae in their size and temporality. As in previous treehole studies, size of Flamboyant treeholes was found to be linked with longevity of the habitat.10 The smallest habitat in our longitudinal assessments was 1 L and ranged up to 27.3 L. Over 3 months of observation, 3 of the 12 treeholes did not dry up. We found that Anopheles do not discriminate between size of habitats over the range of sizes in this study; however, they may avoid highly temporary, small treeholes. Affinity of An. gambiae to habitats lower to the ground further suggests a link between use of traditional ground pool habitats and the large treehole habitats of this study. Although oviposition experiments in this study show that eggs are laid in lakes or distilled water, water from treeholes is clearly preferred.
Previous research has evaluated the ability of immature Anopheles to resist desiccation for short periods of time. A study by Beier and others20 revealed the ability of both An. gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis eggs to survive desiccation at the periphery of drying ground pools in the coastal region of Kenya. However, the reported densities were far below those in the treeholes in this study. The ability of both eggs and larvae of An. gambiae s.s. to survive desiccation on soil has also been documented in laboratory experiments, but survival was measured only in days on damp soil.21 In our study, the hatching of larvae from dry treeholes rinsed over the course of a month during the dry season suggests the presence of eggs adapted for resistance to desiccation. Anopheles larvae were found on each of five total washes, suggesting either that Anopheles adults continue to oviposit on the treeholes in a manner similar to Aedes (Stegomyia) treehole mosquitoes or that multiple washes are needed to recover all eggs as also seen with Aedes (Stegomyia) species.10
The non-recovery of Culex species and the correlation of Aedes and Anopheline numbers in dry habitat assessments further support the assumption that eggs (rather than persistence of larvae) were the source of Anopheles produced in these treeholes. The development of eggs with desiccation-resistant traits probably occurred on the ground in drying pools before exploitation of treeholes as oviposition habitats. This would be in contrast to Culex quinquefasciatus, which oviposits in a wide variety of habitats and likely uses treeholes opportunistically.12 Although some species of Anopheles have adapted to treeholes in other parts of the world22 and have been found in low densities in leave axils23 in Kenya, our finding of high densities of An. gambiae is cause for alarm.
The results of this study may be pertinent to urban planners. Although the choices made by individuals with specific socio-economic motivations may be hard to alter, many of the trees bearing large treeholes in this study were on the grounds of governmental or institutional property. For example, on the grounds of the Lumumba Health Clinic in Kisumu, the 13 treeholes described in this study were within a 2,050-m2 area. By planting species of tree with a lower propensity for generating large treeholes at governmental facilities and along public roadways, a significant decrease in larval habitats may be realized.
Treeholes in highly populated areas may constitute a significant source of malaria-vectoring mosquitoes near human habitations. Malaria control programs use multiple techniques concurrently to reduce transmission, including indoor residual sprayings, insecticide treated nets, drug distribution programs, and larval habitat treatments. Modeling of the potential impact of interventions in larval habitats suggests that this is an important component of malaria vector and malaria control programs.24 To be effective, treatment of larval habitats with insecticides requires comprehensive knowledge of habitat distributions. In light of the number of Anopheles produced in the treeholes of exotic tree species, it will be important to establish the distribution of these trees.
Studies over a greater geographical scale and comparing the current distribution of exotic and indigenous trees with the patterns 20 years ago could provide insight into the evolving use of these habitats by malaria vectors. Changes in tree patterns over Africa (in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa) may have also altered the patterns of malaria transmission. The scope of the malaria public health threat caused by treeholes in Africa needs to be addressed.
Received October 25, 2006. Accepted for publication January 8, 2007.
Acknowledgments: The authors dedicate this study to both the former Director General of ICIPE, H. R. Herren and his successor, C. Borgemeister, for consistent interest, support, and encouragement. The authors thank Pamela Seda of ICIPE Malaria Research Laboratory for the PCR analyses. Figure 1
Financial support: This study was supported by the Government of Finland trough Grant 24811201 and BioVision, Switzerland to ICIPE (Francois X. Omlin). Travel expenses for John C. Carlson were provided through NIH ICIDR Grant U19 A145511 and personal financial support provided through CDC fellowship Training Grant CCT 622308-02.
Disclaimer: The opinions or assertions contained in this manuscript are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the US Public Health Service or Department of Health and Human Services. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the US Public Health Service or Department of Health and Human Services.
was prepared by Ronald Osano. The biology teacher, Father Macarios, of Cardinal Otunga High-School (Mosocho, Kisii District) helped in species identification of the treehole-bearing trees. Morphologic mosquito species identification was carried out at Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kisumu. ICIPEs field project staff made valuable contributions to this study.
* Address correspondence to Francois X. Omlin, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 35 Kisii, Kenya. E-mail: fomlin{at}icipe.org and fomlin{at}kisian.mimcom.net ![]()
Authors addresses: Francois X. Omlin, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 35 Kisii, Kenya, Telephone: 254-727-801284, Fax: 254-20-8632001/2, E-mail: fomlin{at}icipe.org and fomlin{at}kisian.mimcom.net. John C. Carlson, Tulane University, Department of Pediatrics, New Orleans, LA 70112, E-mail: jcarlso{at}tulane.edu. C. Brandon Ogbunugafor, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, E-mail: chieke.brandon{at}yale.edu. Ahmed Hassanali, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772 Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail: ahassanali{at}icipe.org.
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