Antimetabolites in the Nutrition of Aedes aegypti L. Larvae. Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Pantothenic Acid Antagonists

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Abstract
The effect of the antagonists of 3 B-vitamins on Aedes aegypti L. larvae, grown with an artificial diet, was studied. An inhibition index was computed for each of the antagonists. The ability of the vitamins to overcome the toxicity of the antagonists, and the growth-promoting effect of some vitamin analogues, which have vitamin-like activity in other organisms, were tested. Pyrithiamine was 40 times more toxic for mosquito larvae than oxythiamine. The toxicity of pyrithiamine was overcome by thiamine, although the inhibition index was lower with higher amounts of the vitamin in the diet. Galactoflavin was not toxic and had no riboflavin-sparing activity. Atabrine was toxic and its toxicity was independent of the amount of dietary riboflavin. Small amounts of atabrine slightly improved the rate of the larval development with diets containing suboptimal amounts of riboflavin. ω-Methylpantothenate was the only toxic pantothenic analogue. Its toxicity was not reversed by the vitamin. D-Pantothenyl alcohol and pantoyltaurine were not inhibitory. None of the pantothenic acid analogues had any vitamin-like activity. The effect of vitamin analogues in the nutrition of mosquito larvae is compared with that in other organisms.