Reproduction

     Like many insects, Aedes aegypti mosquito has several different stages of their indirect life cycle. The life cycle of the mosquito, from egg to the mature adult, lasts eight to ten days. The four stages include two terrestrial phases at the beginning and the end of their life cycle, the egg and the adult, and the two aquatic phases, in the middle of their life cycle, the larva and pupa (Center of Disease, 2012). Throughout each egg laying period, the female feed primarily on human blood and less frequently on sugars.  To learn more about the interaction between humans and Aedes aegypti, visit the Interactions page. It is also known that sugars are not needed to reproduce, as exhibited by wild females (Harrington et al, 2001).  The females lay their eggs on wet surfaces until larvae hatch. The eggs are durable enough that if there is no flood of water, which allows them to hatch into larvae, the eggs can stay alive for several months. Larvae consume microorganisms and organic particulates. To reach pupa stage, they have to shed their exoskeletons to reach the fourth instar, which occurs after molting three times (Center of Disease, 2012). An instar happens when an arthropod molts successively (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Life cycle of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.When enough energy has been stored up in the fourth instar, metamorphosis begins and the larva is transformed into a pupa. The pupa stage does not need to consume food . The body changes until it molts a final time and becomes the adult mosquito stage of life. The adult mosquito then lives the rest of its life out of the water after the pupa phase (Centers for Disease, 2012).


    Mating of the Aedes aegypti occurs in swarms, consisting of mostly males with the females entering separately. Different frequencies attract the males and female to each other.  Once the male and female find the compatible partner, the mating couple forms a union, called a copula; the mating process occurs in only a few seconds while the mosquitoes are in flight. Females are able to reject males by removing the male from her body with her legs. She can also use her legs to hold the male away and fend him off. But in the instance of acceptance, the male positions himself so his abdomen is against the females’, allowing the two mosquitoes to start the reproduction process. The number of gametes has shown to have a positive correlation with the body size of the mosquito, but has no affect on mating success. The body size of females is also positively correlated with their ability to produce offspring. (Cator & Harrington, 2011)


    The lowest frequency, fundamental, and specific frequencies, harmonic, (comPADRE, 2013) are combined to make the flight tone of a mosquito. Females give off a lower fundamental frequency, which assist males in locating the females in a swarm. When a male and female are near each other, usually within a few body lengths, they modify their frequency to connect at harmonic frequencies. It is said that these tones help male mosquitoes offer important information to females during the process of attempting to win the female over, or courtship. These signals contain information that the males could pass on to their offspring, such as fitness and genetic characteristics. Males offer females direct or indirect fitness benefits. Direct benefits include providing nutritional supply or nesting territories, which increases reproductive rate and decreases the mortality rate among the offspring. Indirect benefits are genetic benefits (Cator & Harrington, 2011). When these genetic benefits are communicated between male and female before copulating, females take them into account before choosing her mate because these benefits increase the fitness of the offspring.

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