| Title: | The Allee effect in site choice behaviour of egg-laying dengue vector mosquitoes |
| Author(s): | Craig RW; Katherine JL; Natasha JW; Veronica RS; |
| Address: | "Sansom Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001. craig.williams@unisa.edu.au" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0127-5720 (Print) 0127-5720 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Surveillance and control of the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is commonly reliant on its egg-laying behaviour, which is affected by the presence of conspecific eggs. However, the influence of varying egg density and breeding site choice on Ae. aegypti egg-laying strategy is unclear. In this laboratory study Ae. aegypti demonstrated a strong oviposition preference for substrates with intermediate numbers of conspecific eggs, thus demonstrating an 'Allee effect'. The withholding of some eggs, a trait required for skip oviposition, was almost non-existent when no site choice was available, regardless of egg density; indicating that skip oviposition behaviour is modulated according to the availability of suitable sites. These experiments have revealed a hierarchy of oviposition choices in Ae. aegypti that may thwart attempts to use semiochemicals from eggs to enhance oviposition-based surveillance and control methods" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Behavior, Animal/*physiology Culicidae/*physiology Dengue/*transmission Insect Vectors/*physiology Mosquito Control/methods Oviposition/*physiology Ovum;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineCraig, R W Katherine, J L Natasha, J W Veronica, R S eng Malaysia 2008/10/25 Trop Biomed. 2008 Aug; 25(2):140-4" |
