The Inherited Basis of Variation in the Hatching-response of Aëdes Eggs (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Eggs of many species of Aedes do not necessarily hatch as soon as they become mature, even though conditions are known to be compatible with hatching. These eggs enter a state of diapause, the depth of which varies with the passage of time in any one egg and the manner of this variation with time itself varies from one egg to another (Gillett, 1955). It seems that, at least in Aedes (Stegomyia) africanus (Theo.) and in A. (S.) aegypti (L.), variation in the hatching-response is controlled by a property which is quantitatively variable, and is distributed unevenly, not only between batches of eggs laid by different females of the same species, but between the eggs laid by a single female and kept in a single container. Obvious sources of variation, other than genetic, occurring between females and between the eggs laid by a single female have been studied and can be excluded as contributing to variation in the hatchingresponse of the eggs (Gillett, op. cit.). It is the purpose of the present paper to describe an investigation into the possibility that this variation in the hatching-response is inherited.Terms, Materials and Methods.

The Activity Cycle of domestic Aëdes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) (Dipt., Culicid.) in Southern Province, Tanganyika

“…Genetically determined differences in behaviour between populations of A. aegypti in different areas, as have been shown by Gillett (1955Gillett ( , 1956, might be important, and even in the same environment the population might consist of more than one group differing in behaviour. In Newala, the population was made up of both apparently normally coloured and pale forms.…”

Variation in the hatching response of Ochlerotatus albifasciatus egg batches (Diptera: Culicidae) in temperate Argentina

“…It is known that installment hatching varies greatly among species (Travis 1953, cited by Clements 1992, and between egg batches of the same species (Telford 1963). Variations occur within populations of the same species, and among eggs laid by the same female (Gillett 1955b).…”

Egg hatching of mosquitoes Aedes caspius and Ae. vittatus stimulated by water vibrations

“…vittatus almost 93% of eggs hatched in the cup agitated daily, compared with only 42–55% of eggs in cups agitated only once or gently re‐flooded repeatedly. The requirement for some Aedes eggs to be flooded repeatedly to induce eclosion (Travis, 1953; Gillett, 1955, 1959; Service, 1970; Andreadis, 1990) could depend, at least partly, on the hatching stimulus of agitation produced during reflooding. When disturbance of the water during reflooding was minimized in our experiments, only a low proportion of the eggs hatched.…”