Effect of body size on swarming behavior and mating success of male Anopheles freeborni (Diptera: Culicidae)

We examined whether body size affects the swarming behavior and mating success of male Anopheles freeborni near California rice fields. Swarms formed after dusk and persisted for approximately 30 min. The proportion of males in 33 swarms sampled n=6028ranged from 100 to 92% but decreased over time (r=0.73, t=6.03, P<0.001). On average, swarming males (n=1058) were larger than males sampled from the resting population (n=735, H=35.6, P<0.0001), indicating that some males never swarm at all. Males swarming early were significantly smaller than those swarming during the peak (H=6.71, P=0.009)or final minutes of the swarm (H=4.86, P=0.002). Mated males returned to the swarm after mating, and larger males enjoyed greater mating success than did smaller ones (n=398, H=16.1, P=0.0005).