Thermal tolerance and size variability in mosquitoes across a climate gradient

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

10:12 AM – 10:24 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 127 B, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Kelsey Lyberger

Assistant Professor
Arizona State University
Palo Alto, California

Co-Author(s)

LC

Lisa Couper

University of California
Berkeley, California
JF

Johannah Farner

Stanford University
Stanford, California
EM

Erin Mordecai

Stanford University
Stanford, California

Variation in thermal tolerance among populations can be important in determining whether a species is able to cope with ongoing climate change. Additionally, variation in body size, which is often associated with latitudinal clines, has implications for fecundity, survival, and feeding behavior. While studies have begun to explore variation in body size and thermal tolerance within species, our understanding of these patterns across large spatial scales, and the roles of plasticity versus genetic differences, remains limited. We conducted a combination of common garden and thermal knockdown experiments to assess these traits in Aedes sierrensis mosquito populations across a 1300 km latitudinal climate gradient. Our findings indicate that mosquitoes from lower latitudes and warmer climates are both smaller and more thermally tolerant and that this is predominantly due to plastic responses rather than genetic adaptation.