The Study was designed to investigate the effect of Plasmodium parasite infection on Vectorial fitness of Anopheline mosquitoes. Adult mosquitoes were collected indoor using Pyrethrum Spray Catch (PSC). Morphological identification was carried out using a trinocular dissecting microscope with the aid of standard taxonomic keys. Dissection of the salivary gland was done to establish sporozoite infection. Wings were measured with an ocular micrometer from the apical notch to the axillary margin, excluding the wing fringe and used as proxy for body size. Data generated were analyzed using the SSPS software version 20.3 and excel package and processed using ANOVA, and Duncan multiple range test was used to compare their means. Findings revealed that Anopheline mosquitoes in Kontagora have a relatively similar body size as suggested by their wing length. Mean wing length (MWL) of Plasmodium infected and uninfected Anopheline mosquitoes do not varied significantly (P>0.05) across all the five sampling locations. The vectorial fitness of both Plasmodium infected and uninfected Anopheline mosquitoes were not significantly different (P>0.05) among the sampling locations. In this study, body size and vectorial fitness do not appeared to be predetermined factors for the infectivity of Anopheline mosquitoes as the proportion of Anopheline mosquitoes infected with sporozoites is independent of body size.
Keywords: Infection, anopheline mosquitoes., body size, plasmodium parasite, vectorial fitness
