Larval Emergence from Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Eggs Exposed to Hot Air 1 Valeria Ramı ´rez-Becerril, J. Concepcio ´ n Rodrı ´guez-Maciel 2 ,A ´ ngel Lagunes- Tejeda, and Juan Antonio Cruz-Rodrı ´guez 3 Posgrado en Fitosanidad-Entomologı ´a y Acarologı ´a, Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo. Montecillo, Texcoco, Estado de Me ´ xico, Me ´ xico J. Entomol. Sci. 58(2): 135–141 (April 2023) DOI: 10.18474/JES22-32 Abstract Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) represents a severe threat to human well- being and health due to the arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) it transmits. Its control is implemented mainly through massive applications of insecticides directed to the larval and adult stages. To develop an additional method for combating this vector, eggs (7–15 d old) were exposed in groups of 20 to a stream of hot air at temperatures between 32 6 28C and 147 6 28C for 5 s. The cumulative percentage of emerged larvae at 24 h and 48 h posttreatment was recorded as a measure of response to the hot air treatment. In the untreated control, which was exposed to room temperature (26 6 28C), the cumulative emergence of larvae at 48 h was 99.2 6 1.7%. The cumulative percentage of larval emergence at 48 h ranged from 97.2% at 87 6 28C to 67.7% at 147 6 2.48C. The biological efficacy of this proposed hot air treatment was, thus, not acceptable. The natural biological attributes of the Ae. aegypti eggs in withstanding heat and desiccation appear to have protected them against the various levels of temperature tested. Key Words hot air treatment, yellow fever mosquito, heat tolerance The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae), has adapted to live and thrive in urban and periurban settlements in tropical and subtropical areas (Powell and Tabachnik 2013). Females require vertebrate blood for egg development, and the acquisition of the bloodmeal provides an avenue for disease transmission (Hansen et al. 2014, Gonzales and Hansen 2016). This vector causes discomfort or death due to the transmission of arthropod-borne viral (arboviral) diseases such as classic dengue, hemorrhagic dengue, Zika, yellow fever, Mayaro fever, and chikungunya (Mayer et al. 2016). Dengue has received particular attention from international organizations and governments of affected countries. Globally, an estimated 3.9 billion persons are at risk of being infected with this disease (WHO 2022). Annually, 390 million people contract it and 96 million people experience severe symptoms (WHO 2022). In 2021, in the Region of the Central American Isthmus and Mexico, 111,227 cases of dengue were detected, of which 1 Received 10 July 2022; accepted for publication 21 August 2022. 2 Corresponding author (email: concho@colpos.mx: conchomexico@hotmail.com). 3 Departamento de Agroecologı ´a, Universidad Auto ´ noma Chapingo. Chapingo, Estado de Me ´xico, Me ´ xico. 135 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/jes/article-pdf/58/2/135/3214466/i0749-8004-58-2-135.pdf by guest on 04 May 2023