A global bionomic database for the dominant vectors of human malaria

Abstract

Anopheles mosquitoes were first recognised as the transmitters of human malaria in the late 19th Century and have been subject to a huge amount of research ever since. Yet there is still much that is unknown regarding the ecology, behaviour (collectively 'bionomics') and sometimes even the identity of many of the world's most prominent disease vectors, much less the within-species variation in their bionomics. Whilst malaria elimination remains an ambitious goal, it is becoming increasingly clear that knowledge of vector behaviour is needed to effectively target control measures. A database of bionomics data for the dominant vector species of malaria worldwide has been compiled from published peer-reviewed literature. The data identification and collation processes are described, together with the geo-positioning and quality control methods. This is the only such dataset in existence and provides a valuable resource to researchers and policy makers in this field.