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Pteridine concentrations differ between insectary‐reared and field‐collected Anopheles albimanus mosquitoes of the same physiological age
Author(s) -
PENILLA R. P.,
RODRÍGUEZ M. H.,
LÓPEZ A. D.,
VIADERSALVADÓ J. M.,
SÁNCHEZ C. N.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
medical and veterinary entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2915
pISSN - 0269-283X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2915.2002.00364.x
Subject(s) - anopheles albimanus , biology , pteridine , population , anopheles , age groups , zoology , veterinary medicine , malaria , toxicology , immunology , biochemistry , medicine , demography , environmental health , sociology , enzyme
Biopterin, isoxanthopterin and 6‐pterincarboxylic acid were identified in the head of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles albimanus Weidemann (Diptera: Culicidae) by HPLC. Total pteridine concentrations (TPC) were estimated in heads, body parts (BP: abdomen, legs and wings) and whole bodies of insectary‐reared and field‐collected females, by spectrofluorometry, to investigate whether they could be used for age determination. Pteridine concentrations diminished with age in both mosquito groups. TPC correlated with chronological age in insectary‐reared sugar‐fed females (heads: r 2 = 0.35, BP: r 2 = 0.34, P < 0.001), but lower correlation occurred in blood‐fed females (heads: r 2 = 0.22, BP: r 2 = 0.27). TPC differed among females of the same age fed with blood at different times ( P < 0.05), indicating that bloodmeals modify the diminution rate of pteridines with age. Nevertheless, a polynomial significant correlation was documented for TPC and the number of ovipositions (heads: r 2 = 0.24, BP: r 2 = 0.27, whole body: r 2 = 0.52, P < 0.001) in insectary‐reared mosquitoes. This correlation was lower in field‐collected mosquitoes (heads: r 2 = 0.14, BP: r 2 = 0.10, P < 0.05), which showed a remarkable pteridine increase in one‐parous females. The correlation of TPC in whole body with physiological age was much less ( r 2 = 0.03). These observations indicate that TPC determination by spectrofluorometry is not a reliable method to estimate the age of An. albimanus females from the feral population.