Effects of Water Temperature on Development and Survival to Adulthood in Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera:Culicidae) and Psorophora ferox (Diptera:Culicidae) Larvae

Authors

  • Faith Benner
  • Austin Dial
  • Maira Herrera
  • Kileen Bragg

Abstract

Due to the ability of mosquito species to survive in wide variety of temperatures, an experiment was conducted to test how water temperature affects the maturity rate of Culex and Psorophora species larvae and adults, two genuses that are common in College Station, Texas. Larval mosquitoes were reared in different temperature environments ranging from 9C to 34C to ascertain the effects of water temperature on the maturity and survival rates of mosquitoes. The data collected from this experiment revealed that mosquito larvae mature very quickly in optimal water temperatures, approximately 21C, and also can survive for extended periods of time, specifically 5 weeks during this experiment, in water that is below 10C. This data implicates that, during the colder months of November and December in Texas, large populations of mosquitoes could survive in their larval state in breeding pools and rapidly mature to adults during periods of uncharacteristic warm weather. These large influxes in mosquito populations coupled with reduced cold-weather mosquito control measures could result in higher disease transmission rates between humans and mosquitoes.

Author Biography

  • Faith Benner

References

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Published

2019-01-31