OBJECTIVE: To identify the parity status of Ochlerotatus scapularis females in laboratory and field conditions. METHODS: Field collections were carried out fortnightly using a hand-held aspirator in Vale do Ribeira, Southeastern Brazil, from April 2003 to March 2004. In laboratory, 100 Ochlerotatus scapularis F1 females were obtained and followed up individually, reporting the number of blood meals, the length of gonotrophic cycle, survival and number of eggs laid. The parity status and ovarian development were observed through ovarian dissection of 90 field females for each collection and all females reared in laboratory. RESULTS: The parity status diagnoses of the 100 females reared in laboratory and dissected agreed with 55% of the oviposition data, and it was underestimated in 37% and overestimated in 2%. Also in the laboratory, 106 gonotrophic cycles were completed, around 55% of females needed more than one blood meal before laying eggs. In laboratory conditions the species survival was 26 days. A total of 1,180 field females of Ochlerotatus scapularis were dissected: 418 (35.4%) nulliparous, 655 (55.5%) uniparous, 46 (3.9%) biparous and 61 (5.2%) could not be evaluated. Ninety field females were found in Christophers and Mer's phase III-V. CONCLUSIONS: The gonotrophic discordance hypothesis could be confirmed based on field and laboratory observations of Ochlerotarus scapularis females.
Parity; Ovary; Ochlerotatus scapularis; Culicidae; Insect vectors; Encephalitis, arbovirus; Developmental biology
