Studies on the composition and distribution of the different sibling species of Anopheles gambiae complex within Katagum area in Bauchi state, Nigeria

A study of the adult indoor resting mosquitoes was conducted to identify the different sibling species of Anopheles gambiae s.l., their abundance and distribution in Katagum area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) females mosquitoes were collected from June to December, 2016 in the study area. Out of these, 40 (20%) were Anophelines while 160 (80%) were Culicines. The month of July recorded the highest number of mosquitoes with peak values of 17 and 62 for the An. gambiae s.l. and the culicine species respectively. Then there after the number of both species of mosquitoes started to decline. However, in December no mosquito species was recorded at all from the sampling sites. Results from the molecular identification (PCR) of the different sibling species of the An. gambiae s.l. collected from the study areas, revealed that An. gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis were the only two sibling species of the An. gambiae complex were recorded during this period of study. These two sibling species were found to occur together in all the sampling sites except in Azare where An. gambiae s.s was only found alone. With regards to the indoor resting density of these sibling species of the An. gambiae complex in this study, it was found that higher population of An. gambiae s.s were recorded indoors than An. arabiensis which were more recorded outdoors.