The mosquitoes of Bwamba County, Uganda. IX. Further studies on the biting behaviour of an outdoor population of the Anopheles gambiae Giles complex

During studies on yellow fever in Bwamba county, Western Uganda, five non-stop series, each of six 24-h catches, were carried out in an uninhabited area of dense rainforest. All these yielded very large numbers of mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae Giles complex. Measures of the central tendency, applied to summed results, show a “typical” pattern with a peak in the second half of the night. Examination of the results in detail reveals great variations in the biting pattern from day to day. These cannot be correlated with local weather conditions and their existence shows that considerable caution must be used in this type of analysis, except in well synchronised biting patterns.