Sizing sex in early developmental stages in a frog-biting mosquito

<p>Sexual size variation in adult holometabolous insects may arise from selection pressures impacting ontogenetic stages associated with diverse habitats and resource use. In addition, scaling relations of these sexually size dimorphic traits play an important role in morphological diversification. In mosquitoes, given the differences in feeding strategies between the sexes, investigations of the ontogeny of sexually dimorphic traits are of particular interest to understanding their reproductive biology and implementing early sex-separating technologies for vector control. However, our current knowledge of the morphological scaling of body parts across males and females is centered around a few, well-known species of anthropophilic mosquitoes. In general, there is a noticeable gap in our understanding of the developmental biology of mosquitoes with limited medical consequences. One such mosquito is <em>Uranotaenia lowii</em> (Diptera: Culicidae), a species of growing interest due to its unique host use of feeding exclusively on frogs by eavesdropping on their mating calls. This study takes a step forward toward filling this gap by investigating morphometrical allometry of sexual size dimorphic traits during the ontogeny of <em>Ur. lowii</em>. We examined larval and pupal stages to focus on traits that allow sex identification to evaluate various sex-sorting techniques that provide a foundation for experimental manipulation. This research sheds light on the biology of <em>Ur. lowii,</em> an understudied mosquito species, and establishes the groundwork for future investigations addressing the developmental and reproductive biology of frog-biting mosquitoes.</p>

全变态昆虫（holometabolous insects）成虫的性体型差异，可能源于作用于其与不同生境和资源利用相关的个体发育阶段的选择压力。此外，这类性体型二态性状（sexual size dimorphic traits）的缩放关系，在形态多样化进程中发挥着重要作用。就蚊子而言，鉴于两性取食策略存在显著差异，对性二态性状个体发育的研究，对于解析其生殖生物学、研发用于病媒防控（vector control）的早期性别分离技术具有重要意义。然而，当前我们对雌雄蚊虫体部形态缩放关系的认知，仅局限于少数广为人知的嗜人蚊（anthropophilic mosquitoes）物种。总体而言，对于医学危害有限的蚊子类群，我们对其发育生物学（developmental biology）的认知存在显著空白。这类蚊子之一即为<em>Uranotaenia lowii</em>（双翅目：蚊科），该物种因独特的寄主利用（host use）策略——仅通过窃听蛙类的交配鸣声取食蛙类——而日益受到关注。本研究通过对<em>Ur. lowii</em>个体发育过程中性体型二态性状的形态计量异速生长（morphometrical allometry）进行分析，为填补这一认知空白迈出了重要一步。本研究观察了幼虫和蛹期，聚焦于可用于性别鉴定的性状，以评估多种性别分选技术，为后续实验操作奠定基础。本研究不仅解析了这一尚未被充分研究的<em>Ur. lowii</em>的生物学特性，还为未来针对蛙食性蚊子（frog-biting mosquitoes）开展发育与生殖生物学相关研究搭建了基础框架。