Morphologic variants of Anopheles albimanus and susceptibility to Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum.

Three morphologically different, true-breeding phenotypes have been isolated from a strain of Anopheles albimanus from Lake Apastepeque, El Salvador. Studies with coindigenous strains of Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum show that these phenotypes differ significantly in their susceptibility to malaria parasites. This difference is apparent both in the number of mosquitoes that become infected and the level of infection obtained. Variations in malaria susceptibility are markedly greater with P. vivax than with P. falciparum. The significance of genetic variants within a local vector population with respect to the epidemiology of malaria is discussed.