Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:48:03.336Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Seasonal changes in populations of phlebotomine sandflies (Dipt., Psychodidae) in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

D. M. Minter
Affiliation:
Division of Insect-borne Diseases, Medical Research Laboratory, Nairobi, Kenya

Extract

An account is given of seasonal changes in the incidence and relative abundance of a number of Phlebotomine sandflies which rest in termite hills in two widely separated areas of Kenya.

The annual pattern of rainfall distribution is shown to be of greater importance than the total precipitation in influencing the gross distribution and local abundance of many sandflies.

Kenya sandflies fall readily into ‘ perennial ’ and ‘ rainy-season ’ groups: the former have a wide distribution and appear to breed throughout the year. The distribution of the ‘ rainy-season ’ sandflies is relatively restricted, since these species are found almost exclusively in areas with a bimodal pattern of annual rainfall; it is suggested that they may survive the intervening dry periods in larval diapause. The length rather than the severity of the dry seasons is thought to be the limiting factor in the distribution of ‘ rainy-season ’ species.

Examples are given of the seasonal changes in structure of populations made up of several species sharing, in the adult form, the same termite-hill habitat.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1964

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Heisch, R. B., Guggisberg, C. A. W. & Teesdale, C. (1956). Studies in leish-maniasis in East Africa. II. The sandflies of the Kitui kala-azar area in Kenya, with descriptions of six new species.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 50 pp. 209226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heisch, R. B., Wijers, D. J. B. & Minter, D. M. (1962). In pursuit of the vector of kala-azar in Kenya.—Brit. med. J. 1962 1 pp. 14561458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lees, A. D. (1955). The physiology of diapause in arthropods.—Camb. Monogr. exp. Biol. no. 4, 151 pp. Cambridge, Univ. Pr., 1955.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. J. & Minter, D. M. (1960). Internal structural changes in some African Phlebotominae.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 54 pp. 351365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minter, D. M. (1962). Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) celiae sp. nov. (Diptera, Psychodidae), a new sandfly from Kenya.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 56 pp. 457461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minter, D. M. (1963 a). Studies on the vector of kala-azar in Kenya. III.— Distributional evidence.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 57 pp. 1923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minter, D. M. (1963 b). Three new sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) from East Africa, with notes on other species.—Bull. ent. Res. 54 pp. 483495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minter, D. M. (1964). The distribution of sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in Kenya.— Bull. ent. Res. 55 pp. 205217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minter, D. M. & Wijers, D. J. B. (1963). Studies on the vector of kala-azar ir, Kenya. TV.—Experimental evidence.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 57 pp. 2431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minter, D. M., Wijers, D. J. B., Heisch, R. B. & Manson-Bahr, P. E. C. (1962). Phlebotomus martini—a probable vector of kala-azar in Kenya.— Brit. med. J. 1962 2 p. 835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southgate, B. A. & Oriedo, B. V. E. (1962). Studies in the epidemiology of East African leishmaniasis. I. The circumstantial epidemiology of kala-azar in the Kitui district of Kenya.—Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 56 pp. 3047.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wijers, D. J. B. (1963). Studies on the vector of kala-azar in Kenya. II.— Epidemiological evidence.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 57 pp. 718.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wijers, D. J. B. & Minter, D. M. (1962). Studies on the vector of kala-azar in Kenya. I.—Entomological evidence.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 56 pp. 462472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar