Field Competitiveness of Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles1 Males Carrying a Complex Chromosomal Aberration: a Second Experiment

Abstract

During late autumn 1978, male Culex tritaeniorhynchus carrying a complex chromosomal re-arrangement (In(3)T(2,3)l) were outcrossed to a newly established hybrid stock and released at the village of Shah-di-Khoi near Lahore. Mating competitiveness in nature was assessed using marked virgin sibling females, the marked virgin female progeny of wild-caught females and unmarked females collected biting buffaloes at Shah-di-Khoi. The released males were competitive for their sibling females, but were uncompetitive for the progeny of wild-caught females as well as the unmarked females, even when the sample size was adjusted for emergence and parity. These results suggest that the genome enabling mating under insectary conditions was rapidly selected and fixed, leading to the observed assortative mating.