Mark-release-recapture experiment with adult Anopheles minimus (Diptera: Culicidae) on Ishigaki Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan

Movement of adult An. minimus Theobald between larval habitats and feeding sites was investigated by mark-release-recapture in March 1993 on Ishigaki Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Unfed (998 females) and fed (1,485 females) cohorts from a laboratory colony were marked with different colors of fluorescent dye, and released near Nishihama stream where larvae were abundant. Overall, 42 fed (2.82%) and 13 unfed (1.30%) females were recaptured. Among these, 12 females were recaptured at a cowshed, the nearest blood meal source. Most females in the fed cohort recaptured at the release point had developing or matured ovaries, whereas 55% at the cowshed were parous. The movement of released females from larval habitat to the cowshed for blood feeding indicated a night distance >1 km.