[Feeding behaviour of Anopheles funestus resting females in Senegal]

The feeding behaviour of An. funestus resting females was studied in eleven sites in Senegal along a west-east transect in two biogeographical zones (the Sudanese and Sudanese-Guinean zones) by an ELISA technique. Mosquitoes were collected by pyrethrum spray catches. For the 1563 blood meals tested, the main hosts were humans, cows, sheep and horses representing respective proportions of 85%, 9.9%, 1.3% and 3.8%. No blood meal was taken on chicken. The percentage of non-reacting blood meals was 2.6%. A heterogenity of feeding behaviour was observed in the sample locations. The anthropophilic rates were higher in the northern Sudanese zone as versus the southern Sudanese and Sudano-Guinean zones.