Relative abundance of two cuticular hydrocarbons indicates whether a mosquito is old enough to transmit malaria parasites.
Temporal changes in the cuticular hydrocarbons of female Anophelesstephensi (Liston) (Diptera: Culicidae) were quantified using gas-liquid chromatography with flame-ionization detection. The ratio of two prominent hydrocarbons, nonacosane (C29) and hentriacontane (C31), was found to change significantly with respect to mosquito age over a period of 15 d. A regression model was developed using this ratio, C29/C31 = 3.96 - 1.63 log (age), and prediction intervals, based on a 12-d developmental interval necessary for females to transmit malaria, were generated using confidence levels for one-sided tests. The model predicted that females that had a C29/C31 ratio of 2.6 or greater were only 10% probable to be old enough to transmit malaria, whereas females with ratios of 1.8 or less were 90% probable.
Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Brandon
B
Brei
John D
JD
Edman
Ben
B
Gerade
J Marshall
JM
Clark
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission*
D006838:Hydrocarbons