Effects of temperature and amounts of larval food on wing length and number of eggs in an egg raft laid by females of Culex pipiens f. molestus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Published in: Urban Pest Management Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: HIDANO, Shinya, ZAITSU, Makoto, KAMIYAMA, Nagamune, ODA, Tsutomu, YOSHII, Manabu, KUROKAWA, Kenji, ESHITA, Yuki, MINE, Mariko, KOBAYASHI, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Society of Urban Pest Management, Japan 2016; 都市有害生物管理学会
• Subjects: Culex pipiens f. molestus; female; larval food; number of eggs in an egg raft; temperature; wing length; チカイエカ; 卵粒数; 幼虫の餌; 温度; 翅長; 雌
• ISSN: 2186-1498; 2435-015X
• DOI: 10.34348/urbanpest.6.1_1

The effects of temperature and the amounts of larval food on the numbers of eggs in egg rafts and wing lengths were examined monthly using blood fed females of Culex pipiens f. molestus mosquitoes collected in an apartment in Nagasaki City between May and November 1982, and autogenous females which were bred with different amounts of larval food at temperature of 21 ℃ or 27 ℃. The mean wing lengths decreased from May to August and subsequently increased. The mean numbers of eggs in egg rafts were strongly correlated with the wing lengths. However, the numbers of eggs and wing lengths markedly varied among individuals, showing a correlation in May and July. Autogenous females bred at 21 ℃ showed larger numbers of mature follicles and longer wings than those that bred at 27 ℃. Female wing lengths indicate adult body sizes and are influenced by the temperature during the larval stage, and the numbers of mature eggs vary with the wing lengths. Therefore, the numbers of eggs in egg rafts laid by blood-fed females may not have been by the temperature. In addition, the amount of larval food in the present experiment was unlikely to have had significant effects on the female wing lengths or numbers of mature eggs, and temperature in larval stage will have an important effect on them in the female.