Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
and
An. sundaicus
complex), six of which are found only in Asia-Pacific
(
An. balabacensis
,
An. farauti
complex,
An. flavirostris
,
An. koliensis
,
An. leuco-
sphyrus
&
An. latens
, and the Punctulatus Group) (
Sinka et al., 2011
). The
predicted distributions of the DVS in this region are shown in
Fig. 1.9
B.
For the 16 Asia-Pacific DVS, 9052 unique georeferenced occurrence
records were assembled. The most data-rich species/species complexes
were the
An. farauti
(
n
= 1737),
An. subpictus
(
n
= 1143) and
An. barbirostris
(
n
= 1064) complexes; and the most data-poor were
An. leucosphyrus
&
An. latens
(
n
= 12). Occurrence data were reported from all seven
Pv
MECs in
this region. Most of the data originated from Papua New Guinea (
n
= 1503
sites), followed by Indonesia (
n
= 890), Solomon Islands (
n
= 160), Malaysia
(
n
= 145), the Philippines (
n
= 124), Vanuatu (
n
= 36) and Timor-Leste
(
n
= 1). Given the heterogeneity in vector distribution in this region,
improved data collection from many of these countries would improve the
fidelity of the predicted distributions of this complicated region.
The distribution and behaviour of the DVS discussed below are those
that met the criteria for having broad distributions in the region (
Fig. 1.9
C)
and have been conclusively incriminated as vectors of
P. vivax
(
Table 1.2
).
A complete discussion of their ranges and bionomics may be found elsewhere
(
Sinka et al., 2011
,
2012
). The species that were identified as specific vectors
of
P. vivax
in Asia-Pacific are
An. barbirostris s.l.
,
An. farauti s.l.
,
An. koliensis
,
An. leucosphyrus
&
An. latens
and
An. punctulatus s. l.
Anopheles barbirostris s.l.
is predicted to occur across large areas of inland
Sumatra and Borneo. It is typically a highland species, but is also found in
coastal regions (e.g. western Timor). Adult females of this species complex
tend to feed outdoors on animals during dusk and night time, bringing its
significance as a vector of malaria into question. Further molecular analysis
and identification of the sibling species is needed to determine if varia-
tions observed in biting behaviours are due to plasticity within a species
or differences amongst different species in the complex. A variety of larval
habitats are also observed for
An. barbirostris s.l.
Though they are typically
considered swamp breeds, a variety of water depth, size, light intensity and
movement has been observed. This variation may again be due to the dif-
ferences among species within the complex rather than the plasticity of a
single species.
Anopheles farauti s.l.
,
An. koliensis
, and
An. punctulatus s.l.
are in sympatry across
most of the islands of New Guinea, New Britain and into the Solomon Islands.
All three are found within the Punctulatus Group. There are two sibling species
in the Punctulatus Complex:
An. punctulatus s.s.
and
Anopheles
sp. near
punctulatus
.
