Assessment of the correlation between wing size and body weight in captive Culex quinquefasciatus

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION:

Mass production of mosquitoes under laboratory conditions allows implementing methods to control vector mosquitoes. Colony development depends on mosquito size and weight. Body size can be estimated from its correlation with wing size, whereas weight is more difficult to determine. Our goal was to test whether wing size can predict the weight.

METHODS:

We compared dry weight and wing centroid size of Culex quinquefasciatus reared at different temperatures and four diets.

RESULTS:

Weight and wing size were strongly correlated. The diets did not influence wing size.

CONCLUSIONS:

Wing centroid size is a good predictor of Cx. quinquefasciatus body weight.

Keywords:
Dry weight; Wing geometric morphometrics; Body size