Variation in the Hatching-response of Aëdes Eggs (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Eggs of Aëdes do not necessarily hatch on becoming mature, even though conditions are known to be compatible with hatching. Even the eggs laid by a single female in a single batch and kept submerged in a single container may hatch in instalments over a very long period and, although on one occasion a high proportion of the eggs may hatch within a given period, on another, for no apparent reason, very few may hatch.The problem of erratic hatching has been studied here mainly in Aëdes africanus (Theo.) and A. aegypti (L.). It is considered that mature eggs enter a state of diapause, the depth of which varies with the passage of time, and that the manner of this variation with time itself varies from egg to egg. Different batches of eggs laid by females of the same species vary in the proportion of the different kinds of egg present.Variation in response of the eggs has been studied by the application of a suitable hatching-stimulus in equal daily doses. The stimulus used was sufficiently weak to allow variation in response to be manifested, but sufficiently strong to outweigh uncontrolled variables in the environment.