Ac. Morrison et al., Increased fecundity of Aedes aegypti fed human blood before release in a mark-recapture study in Puerto Rico, J AM MOSQ C, 15(2), 1999, pp. 98-104
Citations number
32
Categorie Soggetti
Entomology/Pest Control
Journal title
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION
Laboratory experiments suggest that utilization of blood rather than natura
l sugar sources for energetic needs affords female Aedes aegypti a reproduc
tive advantage over conspecifics that use sugar To test this hypothesis und
er field conditions, we carried out a mark-release-recapture study in Flori
da, PR. Adult females (F-1) reared from field-collected eggs were provided
with a diet of human blood alone or human blood plus a 20% honey solution b
efore their release. Backpack aspirators were used to collect mosquitoes fr
om release houses for 5 consecutive days beginning the 2nd day after releas
e. Survival was estimated from the slope of the regression line of the log-
transformed daily number of recaptures for each treatment group. To compare
fecundity of the treatment groups, each recaptured female was dissected, o
varies were removed, oocytes counted, and Christophers' stages of oocyte de
velopment scored. Recapture rates were 30% for the blood-only group and 23%
for blood plus honey group. The daily survival rate of the blood-only grou
p (55%) was not statistically different from that of the blood plus honey g
roup (69%) (t = 0.32, P > 0.05). By analysis of variance, fecundity (averag
e number of stage m-V oocytes) was significantly higher in the females fed
human blood alone (n = 103, 109 oocytes/female) than in the group fed on bl
ood and honey (n = 50, 95 oocytes/female) (P = 0.0007). The observed gonotr
ophic cycle length of the recaptured females ranged from 3 to 7 days. Resul
ts from our field study are consistent with laboratory life-table experimen
ts that suggest feeding exclusively on human blood provides a reproductive
advantage fur female A. aegypti.