title: Parity and longevity of Aedes aegypti according to temperatures in controlled conditions and consequences on dengue transmission risks.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Guadeloupe, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the only vectors of dengue and chikungunya viruses. For both diseases, vector control is the only tool for preventing epidemics since no vaccine or specific treatment is available. However, to efficiently implement control of mosquitoes vectors, a reliable estimation of the transmission risks is necessary. To become infective an Ae. aegypti female must ingest the virus during a blood meal and will not be able to transmit the virus during another blood-meal until the extrinsic incubation period is completed. Consequently the aged females will carry more infectious risks. The objectives of the present study were to estimate under controlled conditions the expectation of infective life for females and thus the transmission risks in relation with their reproductive cycle and parity status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Larvae of Ae. aegypti were collected in central Guadeloupe and breed under laboratory conditions until adult emergence. The experiments were performed at constant temperatures (± 1.5°C) of 24°C, 27°C and 30°C on adults females from first generation (F1). Females were kept and fed individually and records of blood-feeding, egg-laying and survival were done daily. Some females were dissected at different physiological stages to observe the ovaries development. The data were analyzed to follow the evolution of parity rates, the number of gonotrophic cycles, the fecundity and to study the mean expectation of life and the mean expectation of infective life for Ae. aegypti females according to temperatures. The expectation of life varies with the parity rates and according to the temperatures, with durations from about 10 days at low parity rates at the higher temperature to an optimal duration of about 35 days when 70% of females are parous at 27°C. Infective life expectancy was found highly variable in the lower parous rates and again the optimal durations were found when more than 50% of females are parous for the mean temperatures of 27°C and 30°C.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parity rates can be determined for field collected females and could be a good proxy of the expectation of infective life according to temperatures. However, for the same parity rates, the estimation of infective life expectation is very different between Ae. aegypti and Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes. Correlation of field parity rates with transmission risks requires absolutely to be based on Ae. aegypti models, since available Anopheles sp. models underestimate greatly the females longevity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Entomology, Unit Environment and Health, Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, 97183 Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: Daniella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goindin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Entomology, Unit Environment and Health, Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, 97183 Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delannay
authors.affiliation: Service de Lutte Anti-Vectorielle, Agence Régionale de Santé, Dothémare, Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramdini
authors.affiliation: Service de Lutte Anti-Vectorielle, Agence Régionale de Santé, Dothémare, Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gustave
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Entomology, Unit Environment and Health, Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, 97183 Les Abymes, Guadeloupe; Vector Environment and Society Unit, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization, 20, Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fouque
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003715:Dengue / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology*; D019430:Guadeloupe; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology; D010298:Parity / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction; D012306:Risk; D013696:Temperature