Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, 127 NRC, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2012 Jan;49(1):71-6. doi: 10.1603/me10270.
Oviposition choice is a well-studied aspect of the mosquito life cycle, and offers a potential avenue for species-specific surveillance and control. In container inhabiting mosquitoes, there has been a focus on how the components of the aquatic media determine choice, with little work on the physical characteristics of the containers themselves. We performed five experiments examining the effect of physical container parameters on oviposition choice by Aedes albopictus. We examined containers of three different surface areas (small, 496 cm2; medium, 863 cm2; and large, 1,938 cm2) at the same water depth and the same or different heights in a series of binary choice assays. We also examined different depths with the same surface area in clear containers (where the depth may be perceived by the darkness of the water) and in opaque containers, which appear uniformly dark at different depths. We found a significant preference for medium containers over large containers, whether the containers were different or the same heights, and a trend toward a preference for small containers over medium containers. There was a preference for deeper water regardless of whether containers were clear or opaque. These behaviors suggest mosquitoes take into account physical aspects of their habitats and their oviposition choices are consistent with minimizing the risk of habitat drying.
产卵选择是蚊子生命周期中一个研究得很好的方面，为特定物种的监测和控制提供了一个潜在的途径。在容器中栖息的蚊子中，人们关注的是水生介质的成分如何决定选择，而对容器本身的物理特性关注较少。我们进行了五项实验，研究了物理容器参数对白纹伊蚊产卵选择的影响。我们在一系列二元选择实验中，检查了三种不同表面积的容器（小容器，496cm²；中容器，863cm²；大容器，1938cm²），水深相同，高度相同或不同。我们还在透明容器（水深可通过水的颜色来感知）和不透明容器中检查了相同表面积的不同深度，在不同深度时不透明容器看起来颜色均匀。我们发现，无论容器的高度是否相同，中容器都明显比大容器更受偏爱，而且小容器比中容器更受偏爱。无论容器是透明的还是不透明的，都更喜欢更深的水。这些行为表明蚊子会考虑到栖息地的物理方面，并且它们的产卵选择与最大限度地降低栖息地干燥的风险一致。
