Male contributions during mating increase female survival in the disease vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Aedes aegypti is a vector of medically important viruses including those causing Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. During mating, males transfer a number of proteins and other molecules to the female and these components of the male ejaculate are essential in shifting female post-mating behaviors in a number of insect species. Because these molecules are highly variable by species, and female post-mating behavior by species is also varied, behavioral assays testing the function of the ejaculate are necessary before we can develop control strategies targeting the mating system to reduce mosquito populations. Because increased survival in mosquitoes strongly increases vectorial capacity and can influence population sizes and potential risk we tested the effect of mating on female survival. The

SUBMITTER: Villarreal SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5988987 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature