The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Sexual harassment studies in insects suggest that females can incur several kinds of costs from male harassment and mating. Here, we examined direct and indirect costs of male harassment on components of female fitness in the predominantly monandrous mosquito Aedes aegypti. To disentangle the costs of harassment versus the costs of mating, we held females at a low or high density with males whose claspers were modified to prevent insemination, and compared these to females held with normal males and to those held with females or alone. A reduced longevity was observed when females were held under high density conditions with males or females, regardless if male claspers had been modified. There was no consistent effect of harassment on female fecundity. Net reproductive rate (R

SUBMITTER: Helinski ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4276144 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature