Anopheline populations of Alpine valleys were probably not monitored in the 19
th century, as malariologists did not consider them to be involved in malaria transmission before the work of Ross (1897) and Grassi (1898). Alpine
Anopheles were first studied in the 20
th century. There are 13 French Anopheline species [
27] and most of them are not considered to be anthropophilic, except
Anopheles labranchiae,
Anopheles superpictus and
Anopheles sacharovi, which are only found in Corsica. These species are known to have been primary vectors of
P. vivax malaria in Mediterranean countries. This suggests that Corsica had malariogenic potential [
28]. A recent study in the Camargue reports the anthropophilic behaviour and spectacular aggressivity of
Anopheles hircanus, which is abundant in southern France, but not observed in Alpine valleys [
15]. The species
An. atroparvus feeds on mammals and humans. It was implicated in the transmission of malaria in continental France until 1943 and was still responsible for nuisance in Alpine valleys in the 1980s [
29,
30]. Studies showed that adults were not successfully infected by older European strains of
P. falciparum before its eradication [
69], but that they were sensitive to
P. vivax [
31‐
33]. No relevant density was observed and the species seemed to have been progressively replaced by zoophilic
Anopheles messeae in the Rhône-Alpes area since the end of the 19
th century [
34]. Species considered as occasional malaria vectors (i.e.
Anopheles claviger, An. messeae and
Anopheles plumbeus) are currently found in the area. Autochthonous cases of malaria transmission have been attributed to
An. plumbeus in England and Germany [
35,
36] and infectivity experiments have confirmed the sensitivity of European
An. plumbeus to African strains of
P. falciparum. This species was responsible for nuisance every summer in some towns of the Rhône-Alpes region (D. Rey, Entente Interdépartementale pour la Démoustication, personal communication).
Anopheles messeae and
An. claviger are considered to be zoophilic but could have been implicated as secondary vectors in malaria transmission.