Evidence for Significant Skew and Low Heritability of Competitive Male Mating Success in the Yellow Fever Mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti</i>.

ABSTRACT: Aedes aegpyti mosquitoes are vectors of several viruses of major public health importance, and many new control strategies target mating behaviour. Mating in this species occurs in swarms characterised by male scramble competition and female choice. These mating swarms have a male-biased operational sex ratio, which is expected to generate intense competition among males for mating opportunities. However, it is not known what proportion of swarming males successfully mate with females, how many females each male is able to mate with, and to what extent any variation in the male mating success phenotype can be explained by genetic variation. Here, we describe a novel assay to quantify individual male mating success in the presence of operational sex ratios characteristic of Ae. ae

SUBMITTER: Wyer CAS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11671345 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature