Biting prevalence and malaria transmission patterns in the Anopheles punctulatus complex (Diptera: Culicidae) in Papua New Guinea.

Seasonal prevalence and malaria transmission patterns of Anopheles farauti, An. punctulatus and An. koliensis were studied in two coastal and two inland villages in the Madang district of northern Papua New Guinea. The monthly manbiting rates (average biting density of vector mosquitoes per man per night) were observed over a two-year period to establish typical seasonal prevalence patterns. Observations on the frequency of feeding and the human blood index were combined to derive the manbiting habit. A daily survival rate was determined from the dissection of mosquito ovaries by Polovodova's age-grading method. The extrinsic cycle in the mosquito was not observed, and the value for this parameter was extracted from the literature. All parameters were combined to estimate the monthly variations in vectorial capacity of each of the vector species, and the vectorial capacities of the individual species were added together to give a total monthly vectorial capacity of the punctulatus complex in each locality. The results showed that malaria transmission can be perennial, with a period of more intense transmission between August and January in the southern area, and between September and February in the northern. A period of very low transmission can be expected between February/March and July/August.