Biology of tree-hole mosquitoes: photoperiodic control of development in northern Toxorhynchites rutilus (Coq.)

Abstract

Carnivorous larvae of the tree-hole mosquito, Toxorhynchites rutilus, were collected from the northern portion of their range. Long days were found to promote rapid growth and metamorphosis from egg to adult; short days retard development during the second and third instars and evoke diapause in the fourth. All larvae exposed continuously to long days from embryos to the third or fourth instar developed without entering diapause. Diapause-averting long days experienced earlier in development could be reversed in at least some individuals by subsequent short days. Among laboratory-reared larvae or those caught early in the fall, the critical photoperiod for the maintenance of diapause is around 13 h of light per day. Among larvae caught in midwinter, diapause is not maintained in all larvae at any photoperiod and in 50% or less of the larvae at photophases shorter than 12.5 h. Winter conditions in the northern part of the range of T. rutilus appear to play a prominent role in the maintenance and termination of diapause.