Larval food quantity affects development time, survival and adult biological traits that influence the vectorial capacity of Anopheles darlingi under laboratory conditions

Table 3 Biological parameters of Anopheles darlingi females emerged from larvae fed with increasing food amounts under controlled conditions (27 ± 1°C; 80% RU and 12h photoperiod)

Food amount	Biting frequency ratio NS	Blood meal duration (min) NS	Survival (%)	Vectorial Capacity	Wing length (mm)	Longevity (days)
Low	0.7	3.0	20.0a	2.5a	1.5	11.0a
Medium	0.8	2.8	40.0a	2.7b	12	13.0ab
High	0.9	3.6	60.0b	2.8b	52	14.5b

One way Anova on ranks (Kruskal-Wallis) and Dunn's method (comparisons); n=25 (Low food concentration) and n=30(Medium and high food concentrations); Different letters indicate significant differences (P<0.05) in each column. NS= not significant (P>0.05). See table 1 for food amounts supplied to each instar. Biting frequency: ratio of mosquitoes biting from a sample of 5 females caged individually during 10 days for each experimental condition.

ISSN: 1475-2875