title: The Impact of Temperature and Body Size on Fundamental Flight Tone Variation in the Mosquito Vector Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): Implications for Acoustic Lures.
abstract: Aedes aegypti (L.) males use female flight tone as a means of mate localization. By playing the sound of a flying female, males can be attracted to a trap to monitor mosquito populations and the progress of transgenic male releases. However, the female flight tone used to attract males needs to be optimized to maximize trap effectiveness. The fundamental frequency of female flight tone could be influenced by both body size and ambient temperature. However, no analysis yet has considered both the effect of body size and temperature on female flight tone of Ae. aegypti. Here, we present results for both these factors by recording the sounds of free-flying and tethered females across multiple temperature environments and with females reared for small, medium, and large body sizes. We demonstrate that female fundamental frequency is highly dependent on the environmental temperature, increasing ∼8-13 Hz with each °C gain. Body size and whether a female was tethered or free-flying did not impact the relationship between frequency and temperature, although further analysis is warranted. Our study highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between flight tone and temperature, and will inform the design of male mosquito traps.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.|Biology Department, Grinnell College, Noyce Science Center, Grinnell, IA 50112.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Villarreal
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.|Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Winokur
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harrington
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D005426:Flight, Animal; D008297:Male; D009032:Mosquito Control; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
keywords: acoustic communication; premating behavior; sound trap; wingbeat frequency