Age Determination in Mansonioides Mosquitoes

Abstract

OBSERVATIONS by Bertram and Samawickrema¹ have shown that it is possible to determine the number of times that Mansonioides mosquitoes have laid eggs by examination of the ovaries for corpora lutea, a technique developed by Russian workers using Anopheles maculipennis ². Knowing this, and the time taken from feeding to maturation of eggs it has been suggested that a precise estimate of the age of individual mosquitoes should be possible. Examination of the ovaries of laboratory-bred M. uniformis which had laid one to four times confirmed that, with practice, it was possible to count the number of corpora lutea, and the technique was then tried with wild M. longipalpis, M. annulata and M. uniformis. The first two species are typically swamp-forest mosquitoes and the major vectors of filariasis due to Wuchereria malayi in several parts of Malaya, while M. uniformis breeds mainly in open swamps and is also a vector.