Behavior and fitness of irradiated male Anopheles arabiensis in Sudan

This study was carried out to assess the impact of long-term colonisation irradiation and transportation on male Anopheles arabiensis vigour and mating competitiveness and the dispersal of irradiated ones in the field. Resting behavior and survival of males and productivity of larval habitats were also investigated. Male insects were irradiated as pupae and transported with colonised ones to the filed site. Wild males and females were collected as larvae and reared to adult. Colonised or irradiated males were released in a contained semi-field system with wild conspecifics and virgin females. Females were recaptured and dissected for insemination rates. Observation on resting behavior of colonised males in the system was done by inspection of numbers resting every 3 hours in artificial resting places. Male survival in mosquito cages put in selected places in the field was also observed for 12 months. Productivity of three types of mosquito larval habitats were measure using dipping method for immature stages and emergence traps for adults. The dispersal and survival rates of irradiated males were also measured in the field site using Mark-Release-Recapture Method.