FEEDING AND MATING STRATEGIES IN ANOPHELES (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) - THEORETICAL MODELING APPROACH

The effects of various ecological factors, such as the probability of finding mates and hosts and of successfully obtaining a blood meal, on the mating and feeding strategies of domestic female anopheline mosqu itoes was investigated using theoretical models. The models calculated the mean fitness of 1,000 nonblood-fed, anautogenous, virgin anopheli nes. One model simulated females that always mate before blood feeding , whereas another simulated females that are able to feed opportunisti cally if a host was detected before they mated. The models demonstrate d highest fitness for mosquitoes capable of opportunistic feeding unde r nearly all simulated conditions. This advantage increased as the pro bability of finding hosts and mates decreased as a function of host an d mate availability.