Open AccessDevelopment and Survival of Culex sitiens Wiedemann (Diptera: Culicidae) in Relation to Temperature and Salinity
Author(s) -
MOTTRAM P.,
Kay B. H.,
Fanning I. D.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
australian journal of entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1440-6055
pISSN - 1326-6756
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1994.tb00926.x
Subject(s) - salinity , biology , temperature salinity diagrams , ecology
The effect of water temperature and salinity on the development and survival of immature Culex sitiens were studied in the laboratory and at Pimpama Weir, 60 km S Brisbane. the optimum temperature for Cx sitiens survival and development was 30 °C, the threshold for development was 11.94 ± 1.5 °C, and the thermal constant of 188.68 ± 13.33 degree‐days. Survival of the immatures was highest at a salinity of 6–8 ppK and lowest at 20 ppK. Although the newly hatched Cx sitiens were killed at 25 ppK the older stages could tolerate higher concentrations if the increase was gradual. In the field, a high daily increase of salinity combined with fluctuating water temperatures, contributed to very low survival of the immatures. As a result, it is suggested that chemical control of breeding sites is unnecessary if the salinity is 20 ppK or over.