The importance of the study of the movement of food through the digestive tract of larvae of Simulium damnosum s.l. in the control of this vector of onchocerciasis
Elsen, P.
Annales de la Societe Belge de Medecine Tropicale 61: 301-306
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0772-4128 Accession: 001010229
The findings of studies on the passage of food through the alimentary tract of larvae of Simulium damnosum Theo. are summarised [see RAE/B 69, 428, etc.] and briefly discussed. This knowledge is of special importance in order to determine the correct calibration of the insecticidal particles in the formulations of chemical compounds or of Bacillus thuringiensis used against the larvae, to determine more precisely the minimal doses that need to be applied to kill the larvae, and to determine the appropriate spacing of the treatments. Since larval nutrition has a bearing on the duration of larval development and the fecundity of the females to which the larvae give rise, it also influences the dynamics of the adult populations and the interval between oviposition and pupariation, thus affecting the spacing of the treatments.