A mark-release-recapture experiment with Anopheles sinensis in the northern part of Gyeonggi-do, Korea

Abstract

In order to study the range of flight and feeding activity of Anopheles sinensis ,the dispersal experiment was conducted in Paju city, located in the northern part ofGyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, during the period of 7th to 28th September 1998. Unfedfemales An. sinensis were collected in cowshed and released after being marked withfluorescent dye at 23:00 hours on the same day. Released female mosquitoes wererecaptured everyday during 21 days using light traps, which were set at 10 sites in thecowsheds located 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 km north-northwest and north-northeast and at 3sites located 1, 6 and 9 km toward south-west from the release point. In addition, to studythe longest flight distance in one night, we set the light traps at 16 and 20 km towardnorth-northeast from the release site. All the collected mosquitoes were placed on filterpapers and observed on UV transilluminator after treatment with one drop of 100%ethanol. Out of 12,773 females of An. sinensis released, 194 marked females mosquitoeswere recaptured, giving 1.52% recapture rate. Of 194, 72 mosquitoes (37.1%) wererecaptured in light traps from three places set at 1 km from the release point, 57mosquitoes (29.4%) from two places at 1-3 km, 41 mosquitoes (21.1%) from three placesat 3-6 km, 20 mosquitoes (10.3%) from three places at 6-9 km, and 4 mosquitoes (2.1%)from two places at 9-12 km. Since 170 female mosquitoes (87.6%) out of 194 markedmosquitoes were captured within 6 km from the release point, this flight radius representsthe main activity area. An. sinensis was found to be able to fly at least 12 km during one night.