Effect of blood meals and mating on biodemographic characteristics of Aedes albopictus

Abstract The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) is found in peri‐urban environments and transmits pathogenetic arboviruses such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue. It is anthropophilic and feeds during the day. The blood is necessary for egg production. The purpose of the present paper was to study the effect of mating on the lifespan of adults (males and females) of Ae. albopictus as well as the effect of blood meal frequency (zero, one and two meals) on the biodemographic characteristics: lifespan, egg production, number of pupae, pupation percentage, number of male offsprings, number of female offsprings, ratio of male/female offsprings. The population was collected at the vicinity of Volos and Larissa, Thessaly, Greece and the experiments were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Lifespan did not differ between unmated and mated males and females. The number of blood meals (one and two) significantly reduced adult lifespan compared with those with no blood meal. The second blood meal doubled egg production. The knowledge of the biology of mosquitoes and especially the effect of blood meal provides valuable information for the development of mosquito population models and effective mosquito control programmes.