Role of Anopheles melas Theobald (1903) on malaria transmission in a mangrove swamp in Saloum (Senegal)

From June 1995 to January 1998, entomological studies carried out in five villages located in the Delta's Saloum have allowed to better understand the contribution of An. melas Theobald (1903) to malaria transmission in mangrove swamp. Among the five villages studied, three of them (Simal, Djilor and Marlothie) located along the Saloum river, are colonised by An. arabiensis; the two others (Djifere and Diakhanor) located between the sea and the river, are colonised by An. melas. During the rainy season and at the beginning of the dry season, An. melas and An. arabiensis are sympatric. The ratio of An. melas/An. arabiensis increases when we go closer the coast where An. melas becomes quite exclusive. When An. melas is predominant, endophagy, endophily and anthropophily are very marked. The parturity rates are lower in An. melas than in An. arabiensis. In the predominance area of each species, transmission is on the same level. During the period of sympatry, An. arabiensis is responsible for the transmission and when it is absent, An. melas carries on. Transmission occurs from July to March with a maximum at the beginning of the dry season. In the villages of the mangrove swamp, its prolongation until the middle of the dry season is due to An. melas.