Temperature and photoperiod effects on dormancy status and life cycle parameters in Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti from subtropical Argentina

M.J. GARZÓN; L. MAFFEY; A. A. LIZUAIN; D. SOTO; P. C. DIAZ; M. LEPORACE; O. D. SALOMÓN; N. J. SCHWEIGMANN

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2020 vol. 35 p. 97 - 105

0269-283X

Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) distribution is bounded to a subtrop-ical area in Argentina, while Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) covers both temperateand subtropical regions. We assessed thermal and photoperiod conditions on dormancystatus, development time and mortality for these species from subtropical Argentina.Short days (8 light : 16 dark) signicantly increased larval development time for bothspecies, an effect previously linked to diapause incidence. Aedes albopictus showedhigher mortality than Ae. aegypti at 16C under long day treatments (16 light : 8 dark),which could indicate a lower tolerance to a sudden temperature decrease during the sum-mer season. Aedes albopictus showed a slightly higher percentage of dormant eggs fromfemales exposed to a short day, relative to previous research in Brazilian populations.Since we employed more hours of darkness, this could suggest a relationship betweenday-length and dormancy intensity. Interestingly, local Ae. aegypti presented dormancysimilar to Ae. albopictus, in accordance with temperate populations. The minimum dor-mancy in Ae. albopictus would not be sufcient to extend its bounded distribution. Webelieve that these ndings represent a novel contribution to current knowledge about theecophysiology of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti, two species with great epidemiologicalrelevance in this subtropical region.