Table 2 Effects of marker size, mosquito sex, number of swarming mosquitoes and number of released mosquitoes on swarm characteristics in An. coluzzii and An. gambiae in semi-field setups

Swarm dimension (± SE) (cm)

 Maximal

161.5 ± 4.8

181.6 ± 4.9

32.19

1

< 0.001

176.0 ± 4.2

167.2 ± 5.7

2.20

1

0.14

177.5 ± 3.1

161.8 ± 7.8

6.87

1

0.009

0.0047

1

0.95

 Nucleus

127.4 ± 5.5

153.6 ± 4.9

70.92

1

< 0.001

140.9 ± 4.5

140.4 ± 6.4

1.92

1

0.17

142.4 ± 3.5

137.7 ± 8.6

0.07

1

0.79

0.22

1

0.64

 Minimal

95.9 ± 6.1

122.6 ± 5.7

31.90

1

< 0.001

107.3 ± 5.6

111.5 ± 6.8

0.14

1

0.71

106.4 ± 4.8

114.3 ± 8.4

0.38

1

0.54

0.013

1

0.91

 Amplitude

65.6 ± 44.9

58.6 ± 3.8

2.81

1

0.09

68.3 ± 4.3

57.7 ± 3.9

3.40

1

0.06

71.1 ± 3.3

46.9 ± 4.5

11.46

1

< 0.001

0.19

1

0.67

 Width

45.3 ± 3.3

55.2 ± 3.4

0.018

1

0.89

51.3 ± 3.2

49.3 ± 3.6

0.35

1

0.55

49.5 ± 3.2

51.5 ± 3.6

1.29

1

0.26

5.3

1

0.021

Swarm size^a (± SE)

 No. of swarming mosquitoes

26.1 ± 2.6

42.8 ± 3.9

228.75

1

< 0.001

43.5 ± 3.7

25.3 ± 2.7

19.06

1

< 0.001

25.3 ± 2.1

49.4 ± 4.8

22.33

1

< 0.001

na

na

na