Sexual Behavior of Mosquitoes. 4. Field Observations on Mating and Insemination of Marked Broods of Aedes taeniorhynchus1, 2

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Abstract
Two separate synchronous broods of Aedes taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Culicidae) were reared to adults, marked with aniline dye, and released in the field at sunset when 10±2 and 14±4 hours old. Mating activity was observed on the evening of release and marked females recaptured by different trapping methods each day thereafter were examined for sperm. Most insemination took place soon after sunset and most females were 30-40 hours old at sunset before they were inseminated. These results confirm the age dependence of insemination previously found in colonized A. taeniorhynchus in the laboratory. On the night of the 2nd release, many marked females (14±4 hours old) were observed copulating as they flew from the holding cages during twilight. As only 1% of the marked females recaptured that night or the following morning contained sperm, it appeared that in the field, as in the laboratory, young females may “mate” without becoming inseminated.

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