SAMPLING ANOPHELES-ARABIENSIS, A-GAMBIAE SENSU-LATO AND A-FUNESTUS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) WITH CDC LIGHT-TRAPS NEAR A RICE IRRIGATION AREA AND A SUGARCANE BELT IN WESTERN KENYA

CDC (Communicable Disease Center) light-traps were compared with human -bait collections as an alternative method for sampling malaria vector s in two villages of western Kenya. The numbers of Anopheles funestus Giles and Anopheles gambiae sensu lato Giles in CDC light-trap collect ions were significantly correlated to the numbers caught in human-bait collections, but in Anopheles arabiensis Patton the two collections w ere not significantly correlated. Most of the female vectors collected in the traps were unfed. Parity of A. arabiensis collected in CDC lig ht-traps (44.3%) was significantly lower than the rate obtained from f emales caught on human-bait (54.5%). Although, CDC light-traps provide a cheap and convenient method for collecting vectors, further studies should nevertheless be undertaken to determine the influence of speci es-specific variation in the sizes and age-structure of collections be cause such variations can affect the epidemiological interpretation of the data.