The influence of constant versus fluctuating water temperatures on the preimaginal development of Culex tarsalis
Milby, M.M.; Meyer, R.P.
Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 2(1): 7-10
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 8756-971X PMID: 3507472 Document Number: 284132
The influence of constant and fluctuating water rearing temperature on the preimaginal development of Culex tarsalis was investigated in California in 1984. No significant difference was found between the two in the proportion of larvae surviving to the adult stage, female autogeny rates or wing length of adults. The average time from 1st-instar larva to adult emergence ranged from 8 days at 31 degrees C to 16 days at 17 degrees C. Males developed faster than females, and both sexes always emerged faster from a shallow pond than from a deep one. However, the temperature-adjusted mean emergence times and the normalized cumulative development curves were almost identical for each group.