Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Departamento de Epidemiologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Departamento de Epidemiologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Acta Trop. 2022 Jul;231:106430. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106430. Epub 2022 Apr 1.
Intraspecific competition between mosquito larvae can affect several adult traits, particularly size. This study tested the hypothesis that intraspecific competition during the larval stage affects wing length in Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus adults, in turn influencing locomotor activity. L1 larvae of both species were reared in trays under conditions of low and high competition. After adults had emerged, the locomotor activity of virgin females of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus was evaluated under light-dark cycles of 12:12 h at 25 °C and 70% relative humidity. At the end of the locomotor activity experiment, the left wings of the mosquitoes were removed to be measured, and wing length was used as an indicator of adult female size. Although the results showed that the wing lengths of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females reared under low larval competition were significantly greater than those of females reared under high larval competition, this difference did not affect locomotor activity in females of either species, demonstrating that locomotor activity in small Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females is not lower than in larger females. Our findings reinforce the idea that intraspecific competition alters the wing length of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females and provide new evidence about this effect on the locomotor activity of these species.
种内竞争会影响蚊子幼虫的几个成虫特征，特别是体型。本研究检验了以下假设：幼虫期的种内竞争会影响埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊成虫的翅长，进而影响其运动活性。在低竞争和高竞争条件下，将两种蚊的 L1 幼虫分别在培养皿中饲养。当成虫出现后，在 25°C 和 70%相对湿度的 12:12 小时光照-黑暗循环下，评估埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊处女雌蚊的运动活性。在运动活性实验结束时，移除蚊子的左翼进行测量，翅长用作成虫雌蚊体型的指标。尽管结果表明，在低幼虫竞争下饲养的埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊雌蚊的翅长显著大于在高幼虫竞争下饲养的雌蚊，但这种差异并不影响两种蚊的雌性运动活性，表明小体型的埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊雌蚊的运动活性并不低于体型较大的雌蚊。我们的研究结果进一步证实了种内竞争会改变埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊雌蚊的翅长，并为该竞争对这些物种的运动活性的影响提供了新的证据。
