Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-24T12:18:52.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The frequency of host biting and its effect on oviposition and survival in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

D.V. Canyon ,
J.L.K. Hii  and
R. Muller
D.V. Canyon*
Affiliation:
Vector Research Laboratory, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
J.L.K. Hii
Affiliation:
Vector Research Laboratory, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
R. Muller
Affiliation:
Vector Research Laboratory, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
*
*Fax: +61 07 4722 5788 E-mail: sci-dvc@jcu.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The effect of host availability at 6 h, 12 h and 24 h intervals on temporal variation in median host-biting frequency, oviposition and survival of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus), was investigated under laboratory conditions. In each feeding interval, ten replicates containing five mosquitoes were assessed over 12 days. Median host-biting frequencies were 0.7 bites per female mosquito in the 24 h feeding interval, 0.54 bites per female in the 12 h feeding interval, and 0.47 bites per female in the 6 h feeding interval. Although the 24 h figure was comparable to previously documented levels, feeding increased by 1.5 and 2.7 fold in the 12 and 6 h feeding intervals over a 24 h period. Host biting and oviposition were observed to peak at dusk in the 6, 12 and 24 h feeding intervals, but substantial activity was also observed at dawn, noon and midnight. Daily feeding analysis showed that host biting decreased by approximately 50% in all feeding interval trials over the 12 day test period. Oviposition peaks coincided with biting decline, suggesting a three day gonotrophic cycle. Survival did not differ significantly between feeding intervals. The reported rate of 0.47 host bites per female mosquito per 6 h (≈ 1.9 per 24 h) is thus far the highest recorded for A. aegypti. The suggestion that A. aegyptiprobably feeds more regularly than once in a 24 h period in nature is consistent with the biting and oviposition results.

Type
Review Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 89 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 35 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Briegel, H. & Horler, E. (1993) Multiple blood meals as a reproductive strategy in Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 30, 975–985.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canyon, D.V. & Hii, J.L.K. (1997) Efficacy of carbon dioxide, 1-octen-3-ol, and lactic acid in modified Fay-Prince traps as compared to man-landing-catch of Aedes aegypti. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 13, 66–70.Google Scholar
Canyon, D.V., Hii, J.L.K. & Muller, R. (1998) Multiple host-feeding and biting persistence of Aedes aegypti. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 92, 311–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chadee, D.D. & Corbet, P.S. (1993) The gonotrophic status and diel pattern of entry to outdoor oviposition sites of female Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae). Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, 87, 263–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christophers, S.A. (1960) Aedes aegypti (L.) – the yellow fever mosquito. Its life history, bionomics and structure. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Day, J.F., Edman, J.D. & Scott, T.W. (1994) Reproductive fitness and survivorship of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) maintained on blood, with field observation from Thailand. Journal of Medical Entomology 31, 611–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, W.A. (1980) Colonization and maintenance of mosquitoes in the laboratory, pp. 103–151in Kreier, J.P. (Ed.) Malaria Vol. 2: pathology, vector studies and culture, London, Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillett, J.D. (1962) Contributions to the oviposition-cycle by the individual mosquitoes in a population. Journal of Insect Physiology 8, 665–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gubler, D.J. (1988) Dengue. pp. 223–260in Monarth, T. (Ed.) The arboviruses: epidemiology and ecology, Vol II. Florida, CRC Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Hien, D.S. (1976) Biology of Aedes aegypti (L., 1762) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895) (Diptera: Culicidae). IV. The feeding of females. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 30, 27–35.Google Scholar
Klowden, M.J. (1986) Effects of sugar deprivation on the host-seeking behaviour of gravid A. aegypti mosquitoes. Journal of Insect Pathology 32, 479–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klowden, M.J. (1993) Impact of physiological events on the multiple feeding behaviour of mosquitoes. pp. 29–33in Uren, M.F. and Kay, B.H. (Eds) Arbovirus research in Australia – proceedings 6th symposium. Brisbane, QIMR.Google Scholar
Klowden, M.J. & Briegel, H. (1994) Mosquito gonotrophic cycle and multiple feeding potential: contrasts between Anopheles and Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 31, 618–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knulle, W. (1967) Significance of fluctuating humidities and frequency of blood meals on the survival of the spiny rat mite. Echinolaelaps echidninus (Berlese). Journal of Medical Entomology 4, 322–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindsay, S.W., Adiamah, J.H., Miller, J.E., Pleass, R.J. & Armstrong, J.R.M. (1993) Variation in attractiveness of human subjects to malaria mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in The Gambia. Journal of Medical Entomology 30, 368–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lumsden, W.H.R. (1957) The activity cycle of domestic Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) (Dipt. Culicid.) in Southern Province, Tanganyika. Bulletin of Entomological Research 48, 769–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, W.W. (1956) Aedes aegypti in Malaya. II. Larval and adult biology. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 50, 399–414.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macfie, J.W.S. (1915) Observations on the bionomics of Stegomyia fasciata. Bulletin of Entomological Research 6, 205–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madhukar, B.V. & Jones, J.C. (1974) How many blood meals does a mosquito take? Mosquito News 34, 332–333.Google Scholar
McClelland, G.A.H. (1959) Observations of the mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) in East Africa – I. The biting cycle in an outdoor population at Entebbe, Uganda. Bulletin of Entomological Research 50, 227–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClelland, G.A.H. (1960) Observations of the mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) in East Africa – II. The biting cycle in a domestic population on the Kenya coast. Bulletin of Entomological Research 50, 687–696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClelland, G.A.H. & Conway, G.R. (1971) Frequency of blood feeding in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Nature 232, 485–486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pilitt, D.R. & Jones, J.C. (1972) A qualitative method for estimating the degree of engorgement of Aedes aegypti adults. Journal of Medical Entomology 9, 334–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigau-Perez, J.G., Ayuso-Lamadrid, A., Wolff, D.R., Reiter, P., Kuno, G. & The Puerto Rico Association of Epidemiologists. (1994) Dengue severity throughout seasonal changes in incidence in Puerto Rico, 1989–1992. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 51, 408–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, T.W., Clark, G., Lorenz, L.H., Amerasinghe, P.H., Reiter, P. & Edman, J. (1993a) Detection of multiple blood feeding in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) during a single gonotrophic cycle using a histologic technique. Journal of Medical Entomology 30, 94–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, T.W., Chow, E., Strickman, D., Kittyyapong, P., Wirtz, R.A., Lorenz, L.H. and Edman, J. (1993b) Blood-feeding patterns of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in a rural Thai village. Journal of Medical Entomology 30, 922–927.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yee, W.L. & Foster, W.A. (1992) Diel sugar-feeding and host seeking rhythms in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions. Journal of Medical Entomology 29, 784–791.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed