Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2009
The course of the migration of infective larvae of Brugiapahangi within the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is described. The presence of blood or eggs in the abdomens of mosquitoes at a time when the infective larvae are beginning their migration out of the thorax leads to a significant increase in the proportion of larvae accumulating in the abdomen. The evidence supports the hypothesis that infective larvae may accumulate in the labium as a direct consequence of the insect's internal anatomy i.e. infective larvae on moving into a confined space tend to remain there. In addition, the rate at which infective larvae migrate into the labium is shown to be density dependent.