Comparative fecundity and associated factors for two sibling species of the Anopheles gambiae complex occurring sympatrically in The Gambia

For two sibling species of mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae complex of malaria vectors, the effects of body size (wing length) and bloodmeal size (haematin excretion) on fecundity of wild females were investigated in The Gambia, West Africa. Freshly blood-fed individuals from sympatric populations of An.arabiensis and An.gambiae sensu stricto were sampled by collection at 07.00-09.00 hours from within bednets during July/August 1993, at the beginning of the rainy season. The possible confounding effect of infection with Plasmodium parasites was removed by eliminating infected mosquitoes from the study samples. An.arabiensis females comprised 75% of the An.gambiae sensu late population and were significantly larger (greater mean wing length) than those of An.gambiae s.s. mosquitoes. Mean egg production per female (for the subsequent gonotrophic cycle, excluding pre-gravids) for the two species was not significantly different, though the relationship between wing length and egg production showed An.gambiae s.s. to be more fecund than the An.arabiensis of the same size. Pregravid An.gambiae s.s. had consumed significantly smaller bloodmeals than gravid females but the mean wing length of these two gonotrophic categories was not significantly different. In contrast, An.arabiensis pre-gravids were smaller and had consumed smaller bloodmeals than the gravids.