EDHAZARDIA-AEDIS (MICROSPORA, CULICOSPORIDAE) EFFECTS ON THE REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF AEDES-AEGYPTI (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

The influence of the microsporidium Edhazardia aedis (Kudo) on the sur vival and reproduction of its mosquito host, Aedes aegypti (L.), was s tudied in the laboratory. Survival, fecundity egg hatch, and percentag e of emergence for 4 gonotrophic cycles were compared for control and infected mosquitoes. Control females oviposited an average of 123.1 eg gs over 4 gonotrophic cycles, 86.1% of which hatched, whereas infected females laid an average of 38.0 eggs with a 69.3% hatch. Emergence in progeny of infected female Ae. aegypti was significantly less than fo r control mosquitoes in all gonotrophic cycles. The reproductive capac ity (R(o)) for control and infected adults was 168.4 and 4.1, respecti vely, representing a decrease of 98.2%. Overall infection levels in pr ogeny of infected females was 95.7%, of which 46.6% were lethal, larva l infections. Infected female survivors were capable of initiating inf ections in F-2 progeny. Wing length, often used as an indicator of fit ness, was not significantly different between infected and control adu lts.