Comparison of the life table characteristics of Anopheles sergentii (Diptera: Culicidae) from two malarious areas in Egypt.

Life table characteristics were examined for the malaria vector, An. serenti from two Faiyum villages: Tersa (T) and El Nazlah (N) from Siwa oasis (Sw) under constant laboratory conditions at 25 degrees C and 70% RH. Females of T, N and Sw completed 4, 5, and 2 gonotrophic cycles (gc) respectively. The first gc required a significantly longer period (p<0.05) than the subsequent ones. Development times for Sw immatures were longer (p<0.05) than for the other colonies. Life expectancies at emergence for males of the 3 colonies were significantly shorter than for their respective females. Generation time was shorter (p<0.05) for T (mean = 31.15 days) than for Sw (37.81 days) or N (43.64 days) colonies. The birth rate of Sw colony (mean = 0.33 female female/female) was significantly higher (p<O.05) than those of the other colonies. The other biological parameters: fecundity, egg hatch times and rates, survivorship from egg eclosion to adult emergence, male and survivorships, net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase all showed no colony variations. The study concluded that variation among colonies in certain biological aspects may not reflect strain differences.