Factors Related to Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Populations and Temperature Determine Differences on Life-History Traits With Regional Implications in Disease Transmission

MUTTIS, EVANGELINA; BALSALOBRE, AGUSTIN; CHUCHUY, AILEN; MANGUDO, CAROLINA; CIOTA, ALEXANDER T; KRAMER, LAURA D; MICIELI, MARÍA VICTORIA

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2018

0022-2585

Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) is a vector of many medically significant viruses in the Americas, includingdengue virus, chikungunya virus, and Zika virus. Traits such as longevity, fecundity, and feeding behavior contributeto the ability of Ae. aegypti to serve as a vector of these pathogens. Both local environmental factors and populationgenetics could contribute to variability in these traits. We performed a comparative study of Ae. aegypti populationsfrom four geographically and environmentally distinct collection sites in Argentina in which the cohorts from eachpopulation were held at temperature values simulating a daily cycle, with an average of 25°C in order to identifythe influence of population on life-history traits. In addition, we performed the study of the same populations heldat a daily temperature cycle similar to that of the surveyed areas. According to the results, Aguaray is the mostoutstanding population, showing features that are important to achieve high fitness. Whereas La Plata gathersfeatures consistent with low fitness. Iguazu was outstanding in blood-feeding rate while Posadas?s populationshowed intermediate values. Our results also demonstrate that climate change could differentially affect uniquepopulations, and that these differences have implications for the capacity for Ae. aegypti to act as vectors formedically important arboviruses.