TY - JOUR
T1 - Plant tissues
T2 - The frugal diet of mosquitoes in adverse conditions
AU - Müller, G.
AU - Schlein, Y.
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - The plant tissue feeding of Anopheles sergentii Theobald, An. claviger Meigen, Culex pipiens Forskål and Aedes caspius Pallas (Diptera: Culicidae) was investigated. The relative frequency of plant feeding was compared to the general intake of sugar in different seasons and in different habitats in Israel. The study shows that mosquitoes feed on sugar-poor plant tissue in the lack of better options. Optimal conditions were in the sugar-rich En Fesha oasis, where plant tissue was found in only 0.3% of An. sergentii females, and, except for the winter, about 80% of females were sugar positive and the gut content was equivalent to 72.3 ± 1.6 μg sucrose. By contrast, in the dry season in the desert, guts of 46.3% An. sergentii females contained plant tissue residues, only 46.0% were sugar positive, and the gut-content was less than a tenth, the equivalent of 5.6 ± 0.9 μg sucrose. Age grouping of contemporary, desert An. sergentii showed that the growing population consisted mostly of newly emerged adults, as 80.2% of the females were nulliparous and only 12.1% of them survived one gonotrophic cycle.
AB - The plant tissue feeding of Anopheles sergentii Theobald, An. claviger Meigen, Culex pipiens Forskål and Aedes caspius Pallas (Diptera: Culicidae) was investigated. The relative frequency of plant feeding was compared to the general intake of sugar in different seasons and in different habitats in Israel. The study shows that mosquitoes feed on sugar-poor plant tissue in the lack of better options. Optimal conditions were in the sugar-rich En Fesha oasis, where plant tissue was found in only 0.3% of An. sergentii females, and, except for the winter, about 80% of females were sugar positive and the gut content was equivalent to 72.3 ± 1.6 μg sucrose. By contrast, in the dry season in the desert, guts of 46.3% An. sergentii females contained plant tissue residues, only 46.0% were sugar positive, and the gut-content was less than a tenth, the equivalent of 5.6 ± 0.9 μg sucrose. Age grouping of contemporary, desert An. sergentii showed that the growing population consisted mostly of newly emerged adults, as 80.2% of the females were nulliparous and only 12.1% of them survived one gonotrophic cycle.
KW - Aedes
KW - Anopheles
KW - Culex
KW - Dry desert
KW - Israel
KW - Longevity
KW - Mediterranean climate
KW - Mosquitoes
KW - Seasonal plant tissue feeding
KW - Sugar feeding
KW - Tropical oasis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=29144483459&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2005.00590.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2005.00590.x
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
C2 - 16336306
AN - SCOPUS:29144483459
SN - 0269-283X
VL - 19
SP - 413
EP - 422
JO - Medical and Veterinary Entomology
JF - Medical and Veterinary Entomology
IS - 4
ER -