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M T GILLIES

Publications and source records attributed to M T GILLIES.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1964

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE AGE COMPOSITION AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF POPULATIONS OF ANOPHELES GAMBIAE GILES AND ANOPHELES FUNESTUS GILES IN TANGANYIKA.

Following a request from the World Health Organization an investigation was undertaken to determine whether the method developed by Polovodova in the USSR for determining the physiological age of female anophelines could be applied to the two main vectors of malaria in Africa, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus.It was demonstrated that Polovodova's method was fully applicable to these African species. The greater difficulties encountered in determining the age of these species, as compared with A. maculipennis, are due to the smaller size of A. gambiae and A. funestus and to the paucity of ovarioles in which follicular degeneration has occurred.Among the mosquitos examined during a short-term investigation were individuals that had completed up to nine ovipositions. Among the mosquitos infected with sporozoites were females that had completed between three and seven ovipositions. Observations on the numbers of eggs developing in gravid females showed that, in these African species, there was no clear-cut fall in fecundity with age, such as occurs in A. maculipennis.

Africa↗
PubMed1956

The problem of exophily in Anopheles gambiae.

Studies of the exophily exhibited by anophelines in a humid coastal area and in an arid inland region of Tanganyika gave very different results. In the former area, catches of A. gambiae were scanty and largely composed of unfed and gravid females, while in the latter, large numbers of mosquitos were caught outside and a great many of them were recently fed females. The differences are attributed primarily to the presence outside of large herds of cattle in the inland region and to their absence near the coast.The reports of exophily from other parts of Africa are also analysed and show that there is much variation in the behaviour of A. gambiae in different regions. Some of the variation can be explained in terms of environmental differences, particularly in the availability at night of different hosts. But some of it may be genetically determined. It is suggested that the main task in this field is twofold: firstly, to establish the existence and nature of the behaviour differences described; secondly, to study in detail the mosquitos that survive as exophilic populations in areas where systematic house-spraying is in operation.

Africa↗
PubMed1956

A new character for the recognition of nulliparous females of Anopheles gambiae.

A description is given of a mating plug that can be observed in recently fertilized females of Anopheles gambiae. This plug is normally absorbed in the course of the 36 hours following fertilization. Its presence in wild-caught mosquitos can be used for the recognition of nulliparous females. It is shown that the proportion of plug-positive and of unfertilized females in outside resting populations of A. gambiae was approximately doubled following the application of a residual insecticide to houses. The technique of dissecting and examining the mosquitos and a useful way of recording the results are described.

Animals↗