DIEL OVIPOSITION AND FECUNDITY OF ANOPHELES OSWALDOI IN TRINIDAD, WEST-INDIES

The diel oviposition periodicity of wild-caught Anopheles oswaldoi col lected from the forest-ecotone habitat in Valencia, Trinidad, was stud ied in the laboratory by recording the performance of egg-laying indiv iduals and a colony at 2-h intervals. Oviposition was almost exclusive ly nocturnal, with 95.3% of eggs and 91.3% of oviposition occurrences being observed during the scotophase. During the rest of the day, only 4.7% of eggs (8.7% occurrences) were recorded after dawn (0600-0800 h ). Wild-caught females engorged on human blood under laboratory condit ions matured, on average, 61.1 +/- 32.3 follicles (range 56-135). Rang es of 50-69, 70-89, 90-109, and >110 follicles were matured by 12, 4, 4, and 3 gravid females, respectively. These findings provide vector o perators with a window of time to maximize the impact of insecticides on An. oswaldoi populations.