The Influence of Teneral Reserves Mobilization on Wing Development for Vectoral Fitness in <i>Anophele</i>s <i>Gambiae</i> and <i>Culex Quinquefasciatus</i> Mosquitoe

The mobilization of teneral reserve components across mosquito life stages (eggs-pupae) is vital because these teneral components are required for disease transmission. This study was conducted to determine the influence of teneral reserve accumulation on wing development and vectoral fitness in Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. The first live instar (L1) of the selected mosquitoes was sampled using a 350 ml dipper from larval habitats that included gutters, swamps, and large water bodies of the selected sites in Minna metropolis, reared to the fourth live instar (L4), pupae, and adults under laboratory conditions of temperature and relative humidity (28°<SUP>C</SUP> and 73%, respectively) in separate modified larval and dried adult holding cages (LHC and DAHC). At the adult stage, the wings of mosquitoes were removed and measured under a microscope, and nutritional reserves and vectorial fitness were determined using measured wings as an index. Differences in the nutritional composition of the fourth instar An. gambiae were as follows: sugar (3.66±0.20 microgram/larvae), glycogen (2.09±0.26 µg/lar), lipid (8.50±1.0 µg/lar) and proteins (22.39±0.63 µg/lar). Cx. quinquefasciatus had teneral reserves as follows (4.14±0.30, 2.07±0.28, 10.00±0.68 and 22.56±0.46 µg/Lar) of sugar, glycogen, lipid, and protein respectively. The dissimilarity in wing length among species populations emerged only within a narrow range. The relatively larger wings were visible in the average wing length of Cx quinquefasciatus (3.77±0.12 millimetre). The proportion of wings of both left and right wings were 0.03±0.01 mm among the two different species populations. In addition, significant positive to highly positive correlations were observed between nutritional components and wing length, sugar (r= 0.489), protein (r=0.991**), and wing length in An. gambiae, whereas a negative correlation was observed for all teneral content in Cx. quiquefasciatus (r= -0.112 to -0.830). These findings were evaluated for the suitability of disease spread and are expected to contribute to the development of anti-larval control strategies through the manipulation of larval habitat nutrient contents.