Environmental Entomology (1983) 12, 1482-1486

Louis A. Magnarelli (1983)
Nectar sugars and caloric reserves in natural populations of Aedes canadensis and Aedes stimulans (Diptera: Culicidae)
Environmental Entomology 12 (5), 1482-1486
Abstract: Aedes canadensis and Aedes stimulans adults probed the flowers of seven plant species in woodlands. Of the 217 males and females collected, 159 (73.3%) were sighted during 1700 to 1930 h (EDT). An anthrone reagent detected fructose or sucrose in newly emerged adults (53-2% of 124 A. canadensis, 45.1% of 142 A. stimulans) and in blood-seeking females (50.1% of 515 A. canadensis, 49.3% of 600 A. stimulans) collected during diurnal and crepuscular periods (0930 to 1930 h). Sugar positivity rates peaked for both species (53.7 to 63.6%) during 1700 to 1930 h, a time when the majority of adults was observed on blossoms. Average amounts of total available energy reserves, determined by bichromate and spectrophotometric assays, were greater in blood-seeking A. stimulans females (mean range = 6.2-11.4 cal per female) than in both sexes < 12 h old (mean = 0.8-2.7 cal per insect). The presence of fructose or sucrose in newly emerged males and females reinforces the importance of these sugars for insect survival during early adulthood.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes canadensis		U.S.A. (NE)
	Aedes stimulans		U.S.A. (NE)