Human blood-feeding rates among sympatric sibling species of Anopheles quadrimaculatus mosquitoes in northern Florida.

We compared rates of feeding on human hosts for blood-engorged female Anopheles quadrimaculatus species A, B and C-1 collected from daytime resting sites in Manatee Springs State Park, Levy County, Florida during 1992-1993. Quick-blot DNA probes were used to identify mosquito taxa and also the presence of human blood in the mosquito gut. In collections from a campground area, human blood-feeding rates differed significantly among mosquito species (10.7% [19 of 177], 0%, [0 of 62], and 1.2%, [4 of 327]), respectively, for species A, B and C-1). In collections from a woodland site (1 km from the campground), 1.5% (2 of 129) of the species B females had fed on humans, whereas none of 19 species A or 159 species C-1 females had done so. Of the three species in this study area, species A appears the most likely to be a biting pest of humans and a vector of human malaria.