Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:30:28.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations on Toxorhynchites brevipalpis conradti Grünb. (Diptera, Culicidae) in Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Philip S. Corbet
Philip S. Corbet
Affiliation:
The East African Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Observations made in Uganda on eight individuals of the mosquito Toxorhynchites brevipalpis conradti Grünb. reared in captivity from egg to adult are recorded. Larvae of this species are predatory and coexist in tree holes with those of mosquitos of medical importance.

The identification of larvae and pupae is discussed, and information provided on the following subjects: the amount of food (living larvae of Aedcs acgypti (L.)) needed for larvae to complete development; the feeding and killing behaviour of fourth-instar larvae; duration of the pupal stage; and the rate of autogenous ovarian development in the unfed female adult.

The compulsive killing behaviour shown by a fourth-instar larva about two days before it pupates could be expected to cause the death of all the other mosquito larvae in a tree hole of average size. This species is unusual among mosquitos in that pupae of females developed more rapidly than those of males.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , May 1963 , pp. 9 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Breland, O. P. (1949). The biology and the immature stages of the mosquito, Megarhinus septentrionalis Dyar & Knab.—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 42 pp. 38–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SirChristophers, S. E. (1960). Aëdes acgypti (L.) the yellow fever mosquito: its life history, bionomics and structure.—789 pp. London, Cambridge Univ. Pr.Google Scholar
Corbet, P. S. (in preparation). Observations on mosquitoes breeding in small containers in Zika Forest, Uganda.Google Scholar
Corbet, P. S. & Griffiths, A. (in press). Observations on the aquatic stages of two species of Toxorhynchites (Diptera: Culicidae) in Uganda.—Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (A) 37.Google Scholar
Hopkins, G. H. E. (1952). Mosquitoes of the Ethiopian Region. I. Larval bionomics of mosquitoes and taxonomy of Culicine larvae.—2nd edn., 355 pp. London, Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.).Google Scholar
Knab, F. (1911). The food-habits of Megarhinus.—Psyche 18 pp. 80–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macan, T. T. (1950). The Anopheline mosquitoes of Iraq and north Persia.— Mem. Lond. Sch. Hyg. trop. Mod. no. 7 pp. 109–219.Google Scholar
Mer, G. G. (1936). Experimental study on the development of the ovary in Anopheles clutus, Edw. (Dipt. Culic.).—Bull. ent. Res. 27 pp. 351–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, H. A. & Cotton, E. C. (1908). Some life-history notes on Megarhinus septentrionalis D. and K.—Science, N.Y.. 27 pp. 28–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muspratt, J. (1951). The bionomics of an African Megarhinus (Dipt., Culicidae) and its possible use in biological control.—Bull. ent. Res. 42 pp. 355–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newkirk, M. R. (1947). Observations on Megarhinus splendens Wiedemann with reference to its value in biological control of other mosquitoes (Diptera: Cidicidae).—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 40 pp. 522–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paine, R. W. (1934). The introduction of Megarhinus mosquitos into Fiji.— Bull. ent. Res. 25 pp. 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roubaud, E. (1929). Cycle autogène d'attente et générations hivernales suractives inapparentes chez le moustique commun, Culex pipiens L.— C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris 188 pp. 735–738.Google Scholar
Van Someren, E. C. C. (1946). Ethiopian Culicidae. Tribe Megarhinini—notes and descriptions.—Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 97 pp. 177–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trembley, H. L. (1947). Biological characteristics of laboratory-reared Aëdes atropalpus.—J. econ. Ent. 40 pp. 244–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, R. E., DeLong, D. M. & Venard, C. (1961). Observations on Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis (Dyar & Knab) in the field and laboratory (Diptera: Culicidae).—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 54 pp. 669–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar