ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Invertebrate Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1610310
Warmer temperature accelerates reproductive senescence in mosquitoes
Provisionally accepted
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
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To reproduce, most female mosquitoes must ingest blood to obtain nutrients for viable eggs. Global warming is increasing mosquito body temperature and hampering their reproduction. Moreover, because it takes several days to produce eggs and mosquitoes are short-lived, the age of blood feeding determines whether reproduction is feasible. Given that warmer temperature and aging both impair reproduction, we scrutinized whether temperature modifies the aging-based decline in fecundity and fertility. By rearing the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, at three temperatures and offering them a blood meal at four ages, we demonstrate that warmer temperature reduces blood feeding propensity and blood meal mass. Warmer temperature and aging decrease survival, delay oviposition, and reduce oviposition success, fecundity, and fertility. Importantly, warmer temperature quickens the onset of the aging-dependent decline in fecundity and fertility, and at the warmest temperature of 32C, mosquitoes are infertile. Warmer temperature accelerates reproductive senescence, which has implications for disease transmission in this warming world.
Keywords: mosquito, Reproduction, Blood feeding, senescence, temperature, Aging
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Martin, Estevez-Lao, McCabe and Hillyer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Julian F Hillyer, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
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