Attraction of Gravid Females of Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes nocturnus (Diptera: Culicidae) to New Jersey Light Traps on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii

Abstract

Gravid females of Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) and Aedes nocturnus (Theobald) were collected in New Jersey light traps from March 2002 to February 2003 on the Island of Kauai. The monthly gravid rate (proportion of gravid females to all females) and average number of undeposited eggs per gravid female were obtained from the third week collections in the month. Culex quinquefasciatus had much higher gravid rates (0.56–0.98) than A. nocturnus (0–0.24). The monthly average number of undeposited eggs per gravid female was significantly different between these two species. The range was from 80.9 to 163.1 eggs for C. quinquefasciatus, and 29.8 to 71.7 eggs for A. nocturnus. For both species, no significant peaks were found for monthly gravid rate and monthly average number of undeposited eggs per gravid female. This study demonstrates a means of collecting gravid females of C. quinquefasciatus and A. nocturnus and also provides a method of collecting information of the fecundity from wild mosquito populations.