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SURVIVAL OF AEDES LARVAE IN CONSTANT AREA PONDS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. Pritchard
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
P. J. Scholefield
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4

Abstract

Mosquito eggs were hatched by artificially flooding dry pond beds and estimates of population size were made through larval development for one population of Aedes spencerii, two of A. cataphylla, and three of A. vexans. Overall daily mortality rates were between 8 and 21% and survival to the pupal stage was generally less than 20%, even though water levels were maintained. Mortality appeared to be higher in early larval stages than in later larval stages. Predation was unimportant and survival rate may have depended on food supply or temperature or an interaction between the two. In normal ponds populations often suffer heavy mortality when ponds dry up before development is complete. A. cataphylla, a spring species, developed faster than A. vexans, a summer species, at low temperatures but more slowly at high temperatures.

Résumé

L'éclosion d'oeufs de moustiques a été provoquée par l'inondation artificielle du lit asséché d'étangs, et des estimés du niveau de population ont été faits durant tout le développement larvaire pour une population d'Aedes spencerii, deux d'A. cataphylla et trois d'A. vexans. Le taux journalier de mortalité globale a varié de 8 à 21%, et la survie au stade pupal était généralement inférieure à 20%, bien que le niveau d'eau ait été maintenu. La mortalité a semblé plus élevée chez les stades larvaires jeunes que chez les stades larvaires avancés. La prédation était sans importance, et le taux de survie a semblé dépendre de l'abondance de la nourriture, de la température, ou d'une interaction des deux. Dans les étangs normaux les populations subissent souvent une mortalité élevée lorsque l'étang s'assèche avant que le développement ne soit complet. A. cataphylla, une espèce printannière, s'est développée plus rapidement qu'A. vexans, espèce estivale, à basse température, mais plus lentement à des températures élevées.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1983

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