The effect of a larval diet supplement on development in the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii (Coq.) under field conditions

Abstract

The effect of a larval diet supplement on Wyeomyia smithii (Coq.) development was studied within the water-filled leaves of Sarracenia purpurea L. (the purple pitcher plant) in bogs near The Pas and Patricia Beach, Manitoba, and near Kenora, Ontario [Canada]. The larval diet supplement added to overwintered pitcher plant leaves in the spring was found to significantly accelerate the development of larvae and to produce larger and more fecund adults. Food-limited development of larvae probably plays an important role in the percentage of W. smithii that are bivoltine in northern latitudes.