HOST-SEEKING BEHAVIOR IN THE AUTOGENOUS MOSQUITO AEDES ATROPALPUS

The absence of host-seeking behavior during the first gonotrophic cycl e in Aedes atropalpus is not due to hemolymph-borne factors. The remov al of all developing eggs from nulliparous, gravid individuals by ovar iectomy did not result in host-seeking. Furthermore, hemolymph transfe rs from non-host-seeking, nulliparous, gravid females into host-seekin g, parous, non-gravid females did not inhibit host-seeking in the reci pients. Circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that distentio n inhibits host-seeking during the first gonotrophic cycle in this spe cies. Host-seeking can only be elicited after oviposition of the first egg clutch. Although the frequency of sugar feeding is high, particul arly in the parous, non-gravid population, host-seeking is not correla ted with the presence of sugar in the crop. Host-seeking and non-host- seeking individuals were equally likely to have recently fed on sugar. The control of host-seeking behavior during the first gonotrophic cyc le in Ae. atropalpus is thus very different from that in the anautogen ous mosquito Aedes aegypti, in which host-seeking is inhibited by hemo lymph-borne factors associated with egg development.