Diurnal biting activity and transmission of Onchocerca volvulus (Filariata: Onchocercidae) by Simulium yahense (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Liberia.

To determine the influence of meterological factors on the diurnal biting cycle of Simulium yahense Vajime & Dunbar (a member of the Simulium damnosum Theoblad complex), we captured host-seeking females as they landed on the exposed lower legs of humans in the Harbel area of Liberia. Biting activity was greatest during the morning hours and was characterized by a unimodal harmonic curve. Although meteorological conditions had no decisive influence on the unimodal pattern of diurnal biting activity, hourly variation in the number of S. yahense captured at human bait was affected by meterological factors (i.e., the diurnal pattern of S. yahense biting activity is regulated by an internal clock, but the number of bits during any given hour is in response to meterological conditions). The transmission of Onchocerca volvulus (Leuckart) was highest during the morning hours when high transmission potentials were in phase with peak human activity and served to maintain the hyperendemicity of onchocerciasis in the Harbel area.