Effects of adult body size on fecundity and the pre-gravid rate of Anopheles gambiae females in Tanzania

Med Vet Entomol. 1993 Oct;7(4):328-32. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2915.1993.tb00700.x.

Abstract

The influence of adult body size on the pre-gravid state and fecundity was studied in Anopheles gambiae Giles females hand-caught inside houses and virgin females collected as pupae in Tanzania. Blood-fed mosquitoes were kept for 2-3 days before dissection and examination for insemination and ovarian condition. Those females which did not develop eggs were classified as pre-gravid. The number of mature eggs in those mosquitoes which became gravid was counted. Virgin females were fed and kept for egg maturation in the laboratory. Wing-length of females was measured as an index of mosquito size. The overall pre-gravid rate in the resting An.gambiae population was found to be 21% and, of these, 66% had been inseminated. In the virgin females the pre-gravid rate was 92.6%. The mean wing-length of wild females which became gravid was significantly larger than those which remained pre-gravid. There was a positive correlation between fecundity and wing-length. Smaller females tended to require two or three bloodmeals to facilitate completion of the first gonotrophic cycle. The critical size permitting oviposition from the first blood-meal was a wing-length of 3 mm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anopheles / anatomy & histology*
  • Anopheles / physiology*
  • Body Constitution
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Female
  • Fertility
  • Rain
  • Tanzania
  • Wings, Animal / anatomy & histology