Research Biologist Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, Florida, United States
Abstract: Assessing female mating status is critical for evaluating the success of Wolbachia-infected male Aedes aegypti releases. Female mosquitoes were collected from BG-Sentinel traps at release and control sites in the Florida Keys, blood-fed with warmed defibrinated bovine blood, and individually isolated for oviposition. Eggs were hatched under vacuum, and hatch rates were used to estimate fertilization success and overall mating frequency. Variation in hatch rates among sites provided insight into male mating competitiveness and release efficacy under field conditions. This approach offers a standardized, field-adapted method for quantifying Ae. aegypti mating dynamics and supports operational evaluation of Wolbachia-based suppression programs.
