Home⇛Annals of Tropical Research⇛vol. 40 no. 2 (2018)

Courtship duet between the female and the male Aedes aegypti queenslandensis (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions

Elaisa Mae M. Jamora | Zaira Isabelle M. Gines | Claude Ceniza | Rommel G. Bacabac | Frances E. Edillo

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to determine the wing beat frequencies and spherical spreading between the female and the male during courtship under laboratory conditions. The field-collected larvae and pupae were reared into adult mosquitoes and were morphologically identified. Male and female individuals were coupled. Second generation of live adult mosquitoes were tethered to a stainless wire in their upright position and flight tones produced by their wings were recorded using pressure-gradient microphones. Results showed that the fundamental wing beat frequencies of male mosquitoes (607-1,037Hz) were higher than those of the female (487-660Hz). The different distances between male and female mosquitoes did not influence their wing beat frequencies ( >0.05). Wing beat frequencies of male mosquitoes differed significantly when paired with the female, in all distances between them ( <0.05), whereas those of females, did not differ ( >0.05). Thus, the male adjusted and converged with the female's flight tone. Convergence was restricted to the fundamental frequency for all distances except at the 19-cm distance between them, where convergence happened in the harmonics. Analysis on the spherical spreading on their wing beat frequencies did not differ significantly ( >0.05) in six locations of the microphones relative to the mosquitoes, thus, mosquitoes' flight tone moved in a spherical manner and that courtship could happen in different directions. Results are relevant for mosquito control by developing an acoustical device to disrupt their courtship.



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