Review Article1: The Physiological Ecology of Gonotrophic Dissociation and Related Phenomena in Mosquitoes

Abstract

The term “gonotrophic dissociation” was originally used to denote the cessation in egg production despite the continued taking of blood meals by overwintering adult anopheline females in a temperate area. A given species may exhibit this phenomenon in some geographical areas, but not in others. In areas where a population displays dissociation, the proportion of blood-engorged females that exhibit this phenomenon may be high. Gonotrophic dissociation is interpreted as an expression of facultative diapause usually induced by short day-length. This paper is intended to review in detail selected papers dealing with the subject of gonotrophic dissociation and related phenomena, make new interpretations based on the most recent studies of reproductive physiology, and finally, to integrate these interpretations and/or conclusions into our present knowledge concerning the physiological ecology of mosquitoes from a more contemporary viewpoint.