Effects of blood feeding and insemination on the locomotor activity of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Abstract

The study of insect vector biological rhythms improves our understanding of their behavior, thereby helping to devise more efficient control strategies to reduce pathogen spread. In this study, the locomotor activity of Culex quinquefasciatus Say was evaluated for groups of virgin males, virgin nonfed females, inseminated nonfed females, virgin blood-fed females, and inseminated blood-fed females. Experiments were conducted using adults from an established laboratory colony using an activity monitor that tracked individual activity every 30 min. Our results showed that the locomotor activity of males and females of this species is nocturnal and bimodal, with the highest peak occurring during scotophase. After blood feeding, virgin and inseminated females showed less locomotor activity during scotophase than other experimental groups, with inseminated blood-fed females having the lowest activity. Inseminated and nonfed females showed a significantly greater increase in locomotor activity during scotophase than the other groups. This study provided the first comparative information on the locomotor activity of females in different physiological states and males of Cx. quinquefasciatus. These findings may improve our understanding of the behavior of Cx. quinquefasciatus and encourage new research in this field and in the development of control strategies.