Importance of Eaves to House Entry by Anopheline, But Not Culicine, Mosquitoes

Screening homes is an effective way of reducing house entry by mosquitoes. Here, we assess how important blocking the eaves is for reducing house entry by anopheline and culicine mosquitoes that have screened doors and no windows. Twelve houses, with two screened doors and no windows, in which a single adult male slept, were included in a simple crossover design. in the first period, six houses were randomly; selected and had the eaves blocked using a mixture of rubble and mortar, the other six were left with open eaves Mosquitoes were sampled using CDC light traps from each house twice it week for 4 wk. Mosquito control activities and the number and type of domestic animals within the compound was recorded oil each sampling occasion. Before beginning the second sampling period, homes with blocked eaves had them opened, awl those with open eaves had them closed. Mosquitoes were theo sampled from each house for it further 4 wk. When houses had their eaves closed, a three-fold reduction in Anopheles gambiae, s.l. Giles caught indoors was observed. However, there was no reduction in total colicine that the eaves are the major route by which An. gambiae enters houses. By contrast. culicine mosquitoes enter largely through doors and windows. Sealing the eave gape is all important method for reducing malaria transmission in homes where doors and windows are screened