Effects of adult body size on fecundity and the pre‐gravid rate of Anopheles gambiae females in Tanzania

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Abstract
The influence of adult body size on the pre‐gravid state and fecundity was studied in Anopheles gambiae Giles females hand‐caught inside houses and virgin females collected as pupae in Tanzania. Blood‐fed mosquitoes were kept for 2‐3 days before dissection and examination for insemination and ovarian condition. Those females which did not develop eggs were classified as pre‐gravid. The number of mature eggs in those mosquitoes which became gravid was counted. Virgin females were fed and kept for egg maturation in the laboratory. Wing‐length of females was measured as an index of mosquito size.The overall pre‐gravid rate in the resting An. gambiae population was found to be 21% and, of these, 66% had been inseminated. In the virgin females the pre‐gravid rate was 92.6%. The mean wing‐length of wild females which became gravid was significantly larger than those which remained pre‐gravid. There was a positive correlation between fecundity and wing‐length. Smaller females tended to require two or three bloodmeals to facilitate completion of the first gonotrophic cycle. The critical size permitting oviposition from the first blood‐meal was a wing‐length of 3 mm.