J. Isoe et Jg. Millar, WATER-DEPRIVATION AND LIGHT AFFECT RESPONSES OF CULEX TARSALIS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) TO OVIPOSITION SITE CUES, Environmental entomology, 25(6), 1996, pp. 1383-1390
Responses of blood-fed gravid Culex tarsalis Coquillett mosquitoes to
visual and chemical cues associated with oviposition sites were affect
ed by water deprivation but not by sugar deprivation. Gravid mosquitoe
s deprived of water for 24 h before bioassay were more responsive to o
viposition cues and laid the majority of their egg rafts around dusk,
whereas mosquitoes not deprived of water laid similar numbers of eggs
around dusk and dawn. Ambient light levels also affected responses to
oviposition cues, with mosquitoes using visual cues more under dim lig
ht than in full darkness. These results indicate that oviposition beha
vior is flexible, depending on the types of cues that are available. O
viposition behavior is mediated by physical, chemical, and biological
cues, and our results suggest that in the absence of a particular cue,
the entire suite of behaviors which culminate in oviposition may stil
l be triggered by the remaining cues present.