Ovarian development and adult mortality in Aedes aegypti treated with sucrose, juvenile hormone and methoprene

Abstract

The effects of a single sucrose meal or topical application of juvenile hormone III or methoprene on egg development following a 2 μl blood meal were studied in otherwise starved adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Juvenile hormone and sucrose both increased the proportion of mosquitoes that developed eggs if they were administered during a critical period after the blood. Methoprene was effective for a longer period, but eggs that resulted were not viable. At 16 h following the blood meal, both juvenile hormone and methoprene induced significant mortality, but at 24 h, only methoprene had this effect. Additional ingested blood or sucrose could reduce the juvenile hormone-induced mortality. The glycogen content of sugar-fed females after methoprene treatment was significantly reduced, suggesting that treatment with juvenile hormone or its analogue induced vitellogenesis by mobilizing nutritional reserves, or causing mortality when the reserves were depleted. The implications for the involvement of juvenile hormone in the reproduction of mosquitoes following a blood meal is discussed.