Ponlawat Alongkot, Harrington Laura C
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2007 May;44(3):422-6. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2007)44[422:aabsim]2.0.co;2.
Understanding mosquito mating biology is essential for studies of mosquito behavior, gene flow, population structure, and genetic control. In the current study, we examine the effect of age and body size on spermatozoa number in two laboratory strains of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti (L.), Thailand and Rockefeller (ROCK), and in wild-collected mosquitoes from Thailand. Body size was a major predictor of total spermatozoa number, with significantly greater sperm numbers in large (2.27-mm wing length) versus small males (1.85-mm wing length) within the same age group. Total sperm capacity also varied by male age. Spermatozoa numbers in virgin Ae. aegypti males increased significantly up to 10 d after emergence and then leveled off until 20 d. Significant variations in sperm number were detected among Ae. aegypti strains, with wild-collected mosquitoes having the greatest total number of sperm. Our study provides the first evidence of spermatogenesis in adult mosquitoes and indicates high rates of spermatogenesis in male mosquitoes up to 10 d of age (3.3 degree-days). Our results emphasize the potential role of body size and age on the mating capacity of this important vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses.
了解蚊子的交配生物学对于研究蚊子行为、基因流动、种群结构和遗传控制至关重要。在当前的研究中，我们研究了年龄和体型对登革热媒介埃及伊蚊（Aedes aegypti (L.)）两个实验室品系（泰国品系和洛克菲勒品系（ROCK））以及从泰国野外采集的蚊子精子数量的影响。体型是精子总数的主要预测指标，在同一年龄组中，大型雄蚊（翅长2.27毫米）的精子数量明显多于小型雄蚊（翅长1.85毫米）。精子总容量也因雄蚊年龄而异。未交配的埃及伊蚊雄蚊的精子数量在羽化后10天内显著增加，然后在直到20天的时间内保持稳定。在埃及伊蚊品系之间检测到精子数量的显著差异，野外采集的蚊子精子总数最多。我们的研究提供了成年蚊子精子发生的首个证据，并表明10日龄（3.3度日）以下的雄蚊精子发生率很高。我们的结果强调了体型和年龄对这种重要的登革热和黄热病病毒媒介交配能力的潜在作用。
