Comparison of the Physiological age of Adult Resting Versus Flying Culex Quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Main Author: D.M. Roberts
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sultan Qaboos University 2010-12-01
• Series: Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science
• Subjects: Culex quinquefasciatus, Mosquitoes, Circadian activity, Resting, Flight activity.
• Online Access: https://journals.squ.edu.om/index.php/squjs/article/view/366

Relatively little is known about the physiological age of resting mosquitoes. In this study, Culex quinquefasciatus Say had a similar proportion of males (75%) in the resting as in the flying population (76%), but among the females, there were significant differences between the physiological age of the resting and flying populations. The proportion of unfed  females (51%)  was significantly smaller  in the resting than in the flying female group (82%).  By contrast, in the resting group, there were much higher proportions of blood-fed (28% compared with 4%) and to a lesser extent gravid (21% compared with 14%) females. Of the blood-fed females, most of the resting individuals were freshly blood-fed. Both males and females entered the resting traps throughout the day (but none were collected after sunset), with the main peak around dawn. The flying population showed two circadian peaks: a larger peak at dawn and smaller peak after sunset. This indicates a different pattern from that shown in other studies and demonstrates the significant geographic variation within this pan-tropical species.