The African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae commonly oviposits on the surface of temporary rainwater pools, which differ in size, duration, and quality. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of surface area of oviposition site on female preference, and the effect of age on that preference. To determine their preferred site, gravid females (N=46) were placed individually in cages with two cups of water differing in surface area. The eggs in both cups were counted the next day and the proportion of eggs present in each cup was calculated for each female. To determine the effect of age on preference, the proportion of eggs laid in each site was recorded for individual females over a series of gonotrophic cycles. Females preferred to oviposit on the larger site (212 out of 256, 82.8%) and they tended to oviposit on one site only (211 out of 256, 82.4%), regardless of the surface-size of the site or age of the mosquito. Aging had no significant effect on site preference.
Species 1: Diptera Culicidae Anopheles gambiae
Keywords: oviposition preference, age
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