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Effect of light and temperature on the daily rhythm of adult eclosion in the blood-sucking mosquitoes Aedes communis De Geer and Culex pipiens L. (Diptera, Culicidae)

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Abstract

A comparative study on the effect of light and temperature on the daily rhythm of adult eclosion was carried out on the blood-sucking mosquitoes Aedes (Ochlerotatus) communis De Geer and Culex pipiens pipiens L. Two forms of C. p. pipiens were investigated: the autogenous form molestus occurring in the underground habitats (the urban mosquito), and the anautogenous form pipiens inhabiting mostly the above-ground biotopes. The study included both field observations and laboratory experiments. Under natural conditions (southern Karelia, 62°N) at optimal temperatures A. communis and C. p. p. f. pipiens demonstrated a bimodal eclosion rhythm with morning and evening peaks, whereas in C. p. p. f. molestus only an evening maximum was observed. The fraction of adults eclosing in the middle of the day increased at lower temperatures. In all the mosquitoes studied, the daily eclosion dynamics in the nature did not differ significantly between the variants with different levels of illumination, suggesting that temperature was the main factor regulating the eclosion rhythm. However, experiments with constant temperature showed that light also could influence the timing of eclosion. The responsiveness to light was different in two studied forms of C. p. pipiens. Under a constant temperature and light-dark cycles the rhythm became weak or disappeared completely in the mosquitoes from above-ground biotopes (A. communis and C. p. p. f. pipiens) but persisted in the urban mosquito. The effect of gradual twilight transitions was more prominent than that of switching the light on or off abruptly. The observed differences in the light and temperature dependence of the eclosion rhythm are discussed in relation to the ecological conditions in different habitats.

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  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    S. G. Karpova

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Original Russian Text © S.G. Karpova, 2009, published in Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 2009, Vol. 88, No. 2, pp. 241–256.

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Karpova, S.G. Effect of light and temperature on the daily rhythm of adult eclosion in the blood-sucking mosquitoes Aedes communis De Geer and Culex pipiens L. (Diptera, Culicidae). Entmol. Rev. 89, 377–389 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873809040010

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