Diel sugar feeding and reproductive behaviours of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Trinidad: with implications for mass release of sterile mosquitoes.
Studies on the diel sugar feeding periodicity of male and female Aedes aegypti were conducted under laboratory conditions and monitored in single cages using the polyphagometer device and examined every 2h. Males mosquitoes displayed two peaks in sugar feeding, a small morning peak at 06.00-08.00 h (16% of sugar feeding) and a significant evening peak at 16.00-18.00 h (40% of sugar feeding). A similar pattern was observed among females: a small early morning peak (18% of sugar feeding) and a significant peak in the evening 16.00-18.00 h (42% of sugar feeding). Studies on the effects of sugar feeding on the excitation of males showed 100% erect antennal fibrillae after 36 h. In contrast, only 15% of the water-fed males responded. Laboratory studies on the effects of sugar feeding on the insemination rates of A. aegypti females showed similar inseminations rates among sugar and water fed males but after 4 days all water fed males died while the sugar fed males continued to survive and inseminate females. The synchronization of the male and female diel sugar feeding periodicity is discussed in the context of sterile insect techniques or genetic control methods.
Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Electronic address: Dave.Chadee@sta.uwi.edu.
Dave D
DD
Chadee
Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
Joan M
JM
Sutherland
Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratories, A-2444 Seibersdorf, Austria.
Jeremie R L
JR
Gilles
D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D002241:Carbohydrates; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago
D002241:Carbohydrates
Aedes aegypti; Insemination; Sugar-feeding; Survival; Trinidad