The nutrition of the larva of Aëdes aegypti Linnaeus. 3. Lipid requirements

Abstract

The lipids were mixed intimately with an inert solid such as cellulose or kaolin or with fat-free yeast residue and introduced into a basal liquid medium. It was found that in a fat-free medium the rates of growth and survival of the mosquito larva do not fall short of normal. There are, however,- few pupae and very few adult mosquitoes. The larval need for lipid may be supplied by cholesterol or ovolecithin and, less successfully, by a number of other lipids. Of all those tested, no single compound, and no cholesterol ester, was capable of producing normal growth and survival unless fat-free yeast residue was included in the growth medium. Mixtures of lipids were more effective. The following compounds proved inactive: saturated and unsaturated fatty acids; triglycerides; lecithin and cholesterol in soln. in the growth medium. A number of steroids, including cholesterol derivatives, were tested in the presence or absence of fat-free yeast residue. All but 4 were inactive.