2022 Volume 73 Issue 3 Pages 131-136
Aedes albopictus and Ae. flavopictus differ in habitat use and seasonality; the former inhabits residential areas and is more frequent in summer, whereas the latter does forest areas and is more abundant in cooler seasons (early summer and autumn). To understand factors underlying their differential habitat use and seasonality, we examined whether Ae. flavopictus females survive longer and are more likely to cease reproduction than Ae. albopictus females under unfavorable conditions. We reared these two species at 25 and 28°C under high and low diet and examined wing length, longevity and a number of reproductive parameters. In both species, females with larger wings survived longer. In interspecific comparison, Ae. flavopictus survived longer than Ae. albopictus when raised at 25°C under high diet but Ae. albopictus survived longer when raised at 28°C under low diet. There was no difference in longevity between them when raised at 25°C under low diet and 28°C under high diet. In addition, the proportion of mature eggs to follicle cells was high in Ae. albopictus females raised at 28°C under high diet. These results suggest that Ae. albopictus is more adapted to 28°C while Ae. flavopictus to 25°C. This agrees with their seasonality that the former is more frequent in hot seasons whereas the latter in cooler seasons. In addition, this difference in their temperature adaptations would explain the difference in their habitat use.
