Female resistance and harmonic convergence influence male mating success in Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Despite the importance of mosquito mating biology to reproductive control strategies, a mechanistic understanding of individual mating interactions is currently lacking. Using synchronised high-speed video and audio recordings, we quantified behavioural and acoustic features of mating attempts between tethered female and free-flying male Aedes aegypti. In most couplings, males were actively displaced by female kicks in the early phases of the interaction, while flight cessation prior to adoption of the pre-copulatory mating pose also inhibited copulation. Successful males were kicked at a reduced rate and sustained paired contact-flight for longer than those that were rejected. We identified two distinct phases of acoustic interaction. Rapid frequency modulation of flight tones was observe

SUBMITTER: Aldersley A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6375921 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature