Bionomics of Autogenous Mosquitoes

Andrew Spielman

Presented by Anthony Clemons1st Year Grad Student

Keywords Defined

• Bionomics – comprehensive study of an organism and its relationship to its environment

• Autogeny – egg production through facultative blood-feeding– Facultative - BF when conditions permit

• Anautogeny - egg production through obligate blood feeding– Obligate – BF is necessary for egg production

• Fecundity – the ability to reproduce• Diapause – delay in development in response

to regulatory or adverse environmental conditions

• Corpora allata – endocrine gland which generates juvenile hormone– Juvenile hormone – promotes larval development

and inhibits metamorphosis

• Corpora cardiaca – function in the storage and secretion of brain hormones i.e. neurosecretory hormone

Focus of Article

• To bring together some of the literature that has characterized facultative blood-feeding

Autogeny vs Anautogeny• Autogenous mosquito

can lay one clutch of eggs before the requirement of a blood-meal (BM) for subsequent egg lays

• Absence of diapause, the arrest of ovary development

• Small clutch size (non-BM egg lay)

• Anautogenous mosquito require 1 or in some cases 2 (super-anautogeny) BM before they are able to lay eggs

• Diapause• Large clutch size

Contributing Factors

• Genetics• Nutrition (Possible link to genetics)• Environment

Genetics

• Chromosome III carries information that regulates autogeny

• Chromosome I carries genetic information that modifies the penetrance of genetic information from Chromosome III

• Quantitative trait loci determine autogeny and body size in Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) A. Mori et. al. Heredity 2008

Nutrition

• Autogenous mosquitoes amass much greater stores of fat during larval life

• To induce yoke deposition in ovaries of anautogenous females researchers 1) transplatated corpora allata,

• 2) Transfused hemolymph,

• 3) Placement of eggs developed after beta-ecdysone into hemolymph of female A. aegypti,

• And, 4) Abdomen ligation

Environmental Factors

• Temporal, spatial and behavioral barriers due to location play a role in the distribution of antogenous vs anautogenous mosquitoes