Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae): physiological aspects of development and reproduction

Abstract

Basic ecophysiological data are presented on the development and reproduction of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) that were reared and maintained at four temperatures between 12 and 32 degrees C. Median larval developmental time from hatching to pupation was correlated inversely with temperature, lasting 7 d at 32 degrees C and up to 28 d at 12 degrees C. Duration of the pupal period also varied from 2-3 d at 32 degrees C to 7-12 d at 12 degrees C. This extension of larval development elongated the phagoperiod and gave rise to larger imagoes. Based on wing length measurements, body sizes varied from 10 to 57 mm3 for females and from 10 to 30 mm3 for males. The caloric protein content at emergence showed a linear and significant regression with body size, independent of sex, treatment, or temperature. Teneral lipid content also followed a linear relationship with body size at warmer temperatures, whereas at low temperatures it increased exponentially with body size. Glycogen was always below 10% of the protein or lipid levels. Reserves at emergence determined median adult survival times, which ranged from 16 d at 32 degrees C to 100 d at 17 degrees C. Access to sucrose solution allowed females to increase their teneral glycogen up to fourfold within 1 wk, and their lipids up to 10-fold within 2 wk. Despite abroad variation, the number of mature oocytes (15-110 eggs per female) was correlated positively with body size, but inversely with the rearing and maintenance temperature. Utilization of the blood meal protein for oogenesis ranged between 35 and 50%, again inversely correlated with temperature; absolute compositions per oocyte were 6.3-6.5 mcal of protein but ranged from 5 to 7 mcal of lipid.