Identification of a laboratory mating form of the Simulium damnosum Theobald complex in West Africa

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Abstract
Larvae and pupae of Simulium damnosum S.l. were collected from the Begba rapids on the Mono River. Emerging Adults were Induced to mate, Blood Feed and oviposit. Six out of 13 Discrete Egg Batches counted were fertile. The F1 females did not blood feed and thus no F2 eggs were obtained. Larvae from the breeding site and the F1 generation Were identified as being the Beffa form of the S. sanctipauli/S. soubrense group. This form appears to be the only member of the S. damnosum complex in West Africa which mates in the laboratory and is almost certainly the same form as that colonized by Simmons and Edman (1982). The mating behaviour of West African S. damnosum s.l. described by several authors is similar to that observed in the Beffa form, and the possibility that earlier reports referred to the Beffa form is discussed.