The effect of moonlight and other factors on the oviposition cycle of malaria vectors in Madang, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

A series of capture-recapture experiments were undertaken in a coastal village of Papua New Guinea throughout a complete lunar cycle at the end of the dry season in 1987. The duration of the oviposition cycle of mosquitoes released blood-fed in their village of capture was 2·04 days at the full moon and increased to 2·4 days during moonless periods. Mosquitoes displaced 4 km from their village of origin demonstrated an oviposition cycle of longer duration than that of mosquitoes displaced 0–1·5 km. Approximately 25% of Anopheles farauti dispersed between adjacent villages. Significantly fewer An. koliensis dispersed. Unfed mosquitoes suffered a high pre-release mortality but had a similar oviposition cycle to those which were released blood-fed, suggesting that they did not experience any difficulty in obtaining a blood meal.