Prompt mating of released Anopheles darlingi in western Amazonian Brazil.

To identify times and sites of mating, 1- and 2-day-old virgin female Anopheles darlingi were marked with fluorescent dusts and released at dusk, midnight or dawn in a village on the outskirts of Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil. Dissections of marked females captured at human baits revealed that mating occurred in less than 2 h after dusk releases near houses, and among these early recaptures, older females were significantly more likely to be inseminated. We suggest that mating shortly after peridomestic releases occurred without swarming outside houses.