Geographic Variation Among the Life Table Characteristics of Culex tritaeniorhynchus from Asia1

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Abstract
The adult horizontal life table characteristics of 9 strains of Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles from 4 countries in Asia were compared under insectary conditions. Life expectancy ranged from 11.8 to 17.2 days for males and from 18.2 to 28.5 days for females. The net reproductive rate ranged from 14.4 to 98.5 living female offspring/female per generation, generation times ranged from 22.2 to 29.8 days, and the innate rate of increase, rm, ranged from 0.088 to 0.192. Although morphologically similar, the Japan strains were larger and among the longest lived, but generally oviposited fewer total egg rafts which were distributed throughout the female's life resulting in longer generation times and lower r m values than strains from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Taiwan. The Taiwan strain, geographically nearest to the Japan strains, was similar to the subcontinent strains in life table attributes. Possible explanations for among strain differences are discussed in the context of ecological conditions at the locality of origin and insectary culture techniques. Interspecific comparisons with existing life table data for Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say are presented.