The effect of the cibarial armature on blood meal haemolysis of four anopheline mosquitoes

The cibarial armatures of Anopheles albitarsis Lynch Arribalzaga, A. aquasalis Curry, A. bellator Dyar & Knab and A. homunculus Komp are described for the first time. Ten to 15 minutes after blood feeding, higher levels of blood haemolysis were observed among A. bellator (14.9%) and A. homunculus (14.0%) mosquitoes which possessed type C cibarial armatures than among A. albitarsis (3.3%) and A. aquasalis (3.2%) which possessed type B cibarial armatures. In contrast, there were no significant differences among the four species in levels of extra-erythrocytic haemolysis when measured immediately and after one hour. The blood processing physiology observed for the four anopheline species is discussed at the enzymatic, mechanical and taxonomic levels as it relates to innate vector competence.