Blood Feeding Affects Age-Related Changes in the Host-Seeking Behavior of Aedes Aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) During Oocyte Maturation1

Abstract

Host-seeking behavior in Aedes aegypti is inhibited during egg maturation. The onset of this inhibition is delayed in chronologically old females, and the degree of inhibition is reduced if the mosquitoes have undergone a prior gonotrophic cycle. Results of reciprocal ovary transplants between young and old mosquitoes suggested that the decreased rate of yolk deposition in old females was not solely responsible for these differences in host-seeking behavior. The importance of distinguishing between gonotrophic aging of the ovary and chronological aging of the whole female, and the relationship of these factors to multiple feeding, are discussed.