P34 - Putting Her Eggs in One Basket: Observations of Aedes aegypti Skip Oviposition Behavior

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

12:15 PM - 1:45 PM PDT

Location: Hall A

Presenter(s)

Allison N. Yackley (she/her/hers)

Laboratory Manager/Masters Student
NC State University, North Carolina, United States

Co-Author(s)

Michael Reiskind, PhD

Professor
North Carolina State University, North Carolina, United States

Abstract: There are many factors that go into choosing the perfect oviposition site for a female mosquito. While some mosquitoes will lay their eggs in one oviposition site, Aedes aegypti, a container breeding species, is known to spread their eggs across several distinct breeding habitats. This is known as skip oviposition, an ecological bet hedging strategy used to increase the chance of their offspring's success. Based upon previous work, it appears approximately 90% of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread their eggs into multiple oviposition sites, but one in ten choose to lay all of her eggs in only one oviposition site. However, this phenomenon has not been noted before nor investigated. We sought to first confirm these prior observations and gain insight into why this occurs. To confirm this, we conducted an experiment in which single gravid females were separated into cages with 8 cups to serve as oviposition site choices. The findings validated that approximately 90% of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes exhibited the skip oviposition behavior and 10% oviposit in one container. In future studies, we will explore the genetic and environmental determinants of this behavior through selection experiments.