Onchocerca-Simulium complexes. II. Variation in West African female Simulium damnosum
Lewis, D.J.; Duke, B.O.
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 60(3): 337-346
1966
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-4983 PMID: 5971133 Accession: 014591998
The following is substantially the authors' summary. Some aspects of variation in the morphology and behaviour of S. damnosum in West Africa were studied, in view of the importance of this species as a vector of O. volvulus and the geographical variation in its relation to this parasite. Sorting of specimens into three arbitrary colour classes showed that a dark class predominated in the forest zone in the south and a pale one in the savanna to the north. In the eastern part of West Africa, the scale tuft on the anterior basitarsus tended to be higher in the south than in the north. Average wing length was greatest in certain southern areas, A tendency to bite relatively low on the human leg was noted in the forest. It is suggested that the differences between S.