[Resistance to hunger as an element of the adaptive strategy of malaria mosquito larva].

Mortality from starvation in larvae of malaria mosquito species Anopheles beklemishevi, A. messeae, and A. sinensis (Diptera, Culicidae) was compared. The results showed that the southern species. A. sinensis is more resistant to starvation and more competitive than A. messeae, the species with chromosome polymorphism. Mortality of larvae increased when they starved in groups. Starving A. messeae larvae with "southern" inversions (K-strategists) proved to be more viable than larvae with "northern" karyotypes (r-strategists). The relationship between resistance to starvation and selection strategies in malaria mosquito populations is discussed.