Resource- and Density-Dependent Development in Tree-Hole Mosquitoes

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Abstract
Populations of the tree-hole mosquitoes Aedes geniculatus and A. triseriatus were cultured at different food levels and larval densities to determine the fitness consequences of variation in these factors for each species. A composite fitness index and four fitness correlates were calculated for each population. Response-surface regression analysis of these indices indicated that the two species have fundamentally different responses to food and density: The interaction and quadratic effects of these factors had a strong influence on fitness in A. triseriatus but little impact in A. geniculatus. In both species, the composite fitness index was most sensitive to male and female pupal weight, less sensitive to sex ratio and development time, and least sensitive to pupation success. The response-surface model explained over 90% of the variation in fitness in A. triseriatus, but only two-thirds of that in A. geniculatus. We suggest that A. triseriatus is more homeostatic and A. geniculatus more polymorphic for fitness traits, and predict that life-history characters will have higher heritabilities in A. geniculatus than in A. triseriatus.