The Effect of Temperature on the Growth Rate and Survival of the Immature Stages of Aëdes aegypti (L.).

The effect of temperature on the growth rate and survival of the immature stages of Aëdes aegypti (L.) was studied by rearing them at each of a series of constant temperatures from 14–38°C. in water to which adequate food (bakers' yeast) was added. Larvae were hatched, by immersing eggs in water, in four successive groups with an interval of six hours between each, and six hours after the last group hatched, and every 24 hours thereafter, those surviving in each group were recorded and transferred to fresh water and food, the exuviae remaining being recorded. The average time at which any given stage was reached was taken as the mid-point of the 6-hr. period within which the number of individuals that had completed the previous stage reached 50 per cent, of the total that finally did so.

The curve relating temperature and time of development from newly hatched larva to adult is hyperbolic, except at the extremes. The later the instar, the lower is the temperature at which growth is most rapid. The threshold of development was between 9° and 10°C., the developmental zero 13.3°C., and the average thermal constant (between 16° and 32°C.) 2,741 degree-hours. The highest and lowest temperatures permitting development from newly hatched larva to adult were 36° and 14°C., respectively. The average durations of the four successive larval stages and the pupal stage, expressed as percentages of the time taken for newly hatched larvae to reach the adult stage, were 14.6, 13.9, 17.5, 33.3 and 20.6, respectively.