Preferential breeding habitats of sibling species complexes of Anopheles fluviatilis in east-central India

Abstract

In this article, we examine the preferential breeding habitats of Anopheles fluviatilis at sibling species level in malaria endemic district of Koraput, Odisha State, East-Central India. The study included the collection and rearing of the larva from different breeding habitats in three terrains and identification of the emerged adults at morphological as well molecular level. Out of 150 An. fluviatilis emerged, 149 was sibling species T and only one was sibling species S. Sibling species T was found to be breeding mostly in streams (66.4%) followed by paddy-fields (28.9%). Ponds, mud-puddles and pits together contributed only 4.7% of sibling species T. Since, sibling species S has been incriminated as the main human malaria vector in the area; it is recommended that a longitudinal immature survey covering three seasons over a larger temporal and geographical range would be useful to find out the preferential breeding habitats of An. fluviatilis species S.