The influence of immature density and nutrient addition on adult Culex quinquefasciatus weight, emergence, and sex ratio in Atlanta, GA Public
Decker, Gregory Morris (2010)
Published
Abstract
Environmental factors were manipulated to evaluate the effects on the development of mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus. A study was designed to examine how time of year, food, and larval density influenced development as assessed through emerged adult weight and sex ratio. Immature mosquito larva density was manipulated during two seasons to determine the resulting adult mosquito weight. Development of adults from oviposited egg rafts was only successful in one of the two experimental breeding seasons due to weather constraints. In the summer, the addition of dog food nutrients to larval water increased oviposition, and when density of egg rafts was controlled, resulted in greater numbers of emerged adults. Elevated concentration of phosphate introduced at the beginning but not the end of the development period increased the dry weight of emerged mosquitoes. Both dog food and ammonia increased the ratio of females to males; phosphate had the opposite influence on sex ratios. However, the emerged dry weight of adult mosquitoes was not different between the nutrient-enhanced and unaltered stream breeding waters. In containers with higher densities of emerged adults, the dry weight of emerged mosquitoes was reduced. There is a balance between oviposition levels and the ability of nutrients to support growth, and an interaction between egg raft density and differential survival of males and females that is affected by nutrient levels. Culex quinquefasciatus are vectors of West NileVirus (WNV), and thus understanding mosquito population dynamics can lead to a better understanding of vectorial potential in urban areas.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction...1
Methods...5
Results...8
Discussion...10
References...15
Tables...18
Figures...21
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The influence of immature density and nutrient addition on adult Culex quinquefasciatus weight, emergence, and sex ratio in Atlanta, GA () | 2018-08-28 14:18:00 -0400 |
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