Water body parameters have a considerable effect on the communities that develop within them. In small container habitats like tires, the depth, surface area, and volume effect the development and success of the mosquito communities. This study investigated the choices of the adult female mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus, between different depths and surface areas. In addition, larval performance was determined under differing depth and larvae densities. Oviposition studies showed that Ae. albopictus had a preference for deeper habitats (χ2= 14.2902, p= 0.0139) but did not prefer any surface areas (χ2= 7.2321, p= 0.0649) though there was a trend that indicated that there could be a preference for larger surface area. Conversely, Culex quinquefasciatus was shown to be sensitive to surface areas (χ2= 11.1419, p= 0.0110) but not depth (χ2= 9.9828, p= 0.0757). Larval densities affected the population growth, represented by λ’, of Aedes albopictus (F3,15= 19.3786, p< 0.0001) where higher densities of larvae depressed λ’ values. Culex quinquefasciatus had significant differences in the interaction of larval density and depth (F9,15= 3.2870, p= 0.0204) between the low λ’ 10:10 and the high λ’ 0:5 densities. Within the 10:10 density, differences were found in λ’ with higher growth in the 7 cm depth compared to the 14 cm depth. Additionally, the 14 cm depth produced heavier female depth produced heavier female Ae. albopictus than 7 cm depths (F3,15= 3.3160, p= 0.0488). Overall, it was shown that Ae. albopictus prefer deeper habitats while ovipositing and although this does not seem to confer greater population growth, it does result in larger female mosquitoes. In addition, Ae albopictus depressed the population growth of Cx. quinquefasciatus in high larval densities.
","abstract_html":"<p>Water body parameters have a considerable effect on the communities that develop within them. In small container habitats like tires, the depth, surface area, and volume effect the development and success of the mosquito communities. This study investigated the choices of the adult female mosquitoes, <em>Aedes albopictus </em>and <em>Culex quinquefasciatus, </em>between different depths and surface areas. In addition, larval performance was determined under differing depth and larvae densities. Oviposition studies showed that <em>Ae. albopictus </em>had a preference for deeper habitats (χ<sup>2</sup>= 14.2902, p= 0.0139) but did not prefer any surface areas (χ<sup>2</sup>= 7.2321, p= 0.0649) though there was a trend that indicated that there could be a preference for larger surface area. Conversely, <em>Culex quinquefasciatus </em>was shown to be sensitive to surface areas (χ<sup>2</sup>= 11.1419, p= 0.0110) but not depth (χ<sup>2</sup>= 9.9828, p= 0.0757). Larval densities affected the population growth, represented by λ’, of <em>Aedes albopictus </em>(F<sub>3,15</sub>= 19.3786, p< 0.0001) where higher densities of larvae depressed λ’ values. <em>Culex quinquefasciatus </em>had significant differences in the interaction of larval density and depth (F<sub>9,15</sub>= 3.2870, p= 0.0204) between the low λ’ 10:10 and the high λ’ 0:5 densities. Within the 10:10 density, differences were found in λ’ with higher growth in the 7 cm depth compared to the 14 cm depth. Additionally, the 14 cm depth produced heavier female depth produced heavier female <em>Ae. albopictus </em>than 7 cm depths (F<sub>3,15</sub>= 3.3160, p= 0.0488). Overall, it was shown that <em>Ae. albopictus </em>prefer deeper habitats while ovipositing and although this does not seem to confer greater population growth, it does result in larger female mosquitoes. In addition, <em>Ae albopictus </em>depressed the population growth of <em>Cx. quinquefasciatus </em>in high larval densities. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Schelble, Stephanie Sue"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biological Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Donald Yee","Kevin Kuehn","Carl Qualls"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z","subjects":["mosquito","Culicidae","oviposition behavior","life history","tire","Behavior and Ethology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/38","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Donald Yee","Kevin Kuehn","Carl Qualls"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Schelble, Stephanie Sue"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biological Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["mosquito","Culicidae","oviposition behavior","life history","tire","Behavior and Ethology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/38"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Water body parameters have a considerable effect on the communities that develop within them. In small container habitats like tires, the depth, surface area, and volume effect the development and success of the mosquito communities. This study investigated the choices of the adult female mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus, between different depths and surface areas. In addition, larval performance was determined under differing depth and larvae densities. Oviposition studies showed that Ae. albopictus had a preference for deeper habitats (χ2= 14.2902, p= 0.0139) but did not prefer any surface areas (χ2= 7.2321, p= 0.0649) though there was a trend that indicated that there could be a preference for larger surface area. Conversely, Culex quinquefasciatus was shown to be sensitive to surface areas (χ2= 11.1419, p= 0.0110) but not depth (χ2= 9.9828, p= 0.0757). Larval densities affected the population growth, represented by λ’, of Aedes albopictus (F3,15= 19.3786, p< 0.0001) where higher densities of larvae depressed λ’ values. Culex quinquefasciatus had significant differences in the interaction of larval density and depth (F9,15= 3.2870, p= 0.0204) between the low λ’ 10:10 and the high λ’ 0:5 densities. Within the 10:10 density, differences were found in λ’ with higher growth in the 7 cm depth compared to the 14 cm depth. Additionally, the 14 cm depth produced heavier female depth produced heavier female Ae. albopictus than 7 cm depths (F3,15= 3.3160, p= 0.0488). Overall, it was shown that Ae. albopictus prefer deeper habitats while ovipositing and although this does not seem to confer greater population growth, it does result in larger female mosquitoes. In addition, Ae albopictus depressed the population growth of Cx. quinquefasciatus in high larval densities.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effects of Water Parameters on Container Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Oviposition and Performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Donald Yee","Kevin Kuehn","Carl Qualls"],"dc:creator":["Schelble, Stephanie Sue"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Water body parameters have a considerable effect on the communities that develop within them. In small container habitats like tires, the depth, surface area, and volume effect the development and success of the mosquito communities. This study investigated the choices of the adult female mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus, between different depths and surface areas. In addition, larval performance was determined under differing depth and larvae densities. Oviposition studies showed that Ae. albopictus had a preference for deeper habitats (χ2= 14.2902, p= 0.0139) but did not prefer any surface areas (χ2= 7.2321, p= 0.0649) though there was a trend that indicated that there could be a preference for larger surface area. Conversely, Culex quinquefasciatus was shown to be sensitive to surface areas (χ2= 11.1419, p= 0.0110) but not depth (χ2= 9.9828, p= 0.0757). Larval densities affected the population growth, represented by λ’, of Aedes albopictus (F3,15= 19.3786, p< 0.0001) where higher densities of larvae depressed λ’ values. Culex quinquefasciatus had significant differences in the interaction of larval density and depth (F9,15= 3.2870, p= 0.0204) between the low λ’ 10:10 and the high λ’ 0:5 densities. Within the 10:10 density, differences were found in λ’ with higher growth in the 7 cm depth compared to the 14 cm depth. Additionally, the 14 cm depth produced heavier female depth produced heavier female Ae. albopictus than 7 cm depths (F3,15= 3.3160, p= 0.0488). Overall, it was shown that Ae. albopictus prefer deeper habitats while ovipositing and although this does not seem to confer greater population growth, it does result in larger female mosquitoes. In addition, Ae albopictus depressed the population growth of Cx. quinquefasciatus in high larval densities.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/38"],"dc:subject":["mosquito","Culicidae","oviposition behavior","life history","tire","Behavior and Ethology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"dc:title":["Effects of Water Parameters on Container Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Oviposition and Performance"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biological Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z"}