Gonotrophic cycle and survivorship of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Tapachula foothills of southern Mexico.

Abstract

Mark-release-recapture experiments were conducted to determine the length of the gonotrophic cycle and survivorship of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis Theobald in the Tapachula foothills of southern Mexico. Separate trials with wild-caught females were conducted in the early and late dry season to examine intraseasonal differences. The gonotrophic cycle of insectary-reared, nulliparous females was estimated during the late dry season. A total of 5.4-5.7% of marked females was recaptured. A 3-d gonotrophic cycle was characteristic of wild-caught females, whereas a 4-d gonotrophic cycle was characteristic for insectary-reared females. Engorged, wild-caught females completed oogenesis in approximately 60 h under field conditions. Blood digestion in 23.5% of 2,221 and 21.9% of 1,195 engorged, wild-caught females held in the insectary was not accompanied by egg development. Dissections of these females showed that nearly 85% were nulliparous and presumably pregravid. These statistics plus other field data were used to determine that 60% of all nulliparous entered a pregravid condition. The body size and wing length of gravids was significantly larger than pregravids. Daily survival estimates of 0.875 and 0.884 were calculated for field-collected females during the early and late dry season, respectively.