Hello To have solutions of water with variable rate of PH, what is the solution (acid) to be metered, provided that this acid is not toxic by what one is putting insects in the water used. cordially
Mosquitoes usually breed in slightly alkaline water. If water is acidic, breeding and metamorphosis of mosquitoes is affected. secondly, larval nutrition is another important factor responsible for completion of life cycle of mosquitoes. Lower pH of water in not favourable for mosquito breeding.
In addition to Shabad's answer, I would like to say that of the four stages in the mosquito life cycle three stages (egg,larva & pupa) are all aquatic.The Anopheles mosquitoes generally are known to prefer breeding in clean,sunlit or shaded, unpolluted water (Service 2013 page 36 -Medical Entomology for Students),however they are records of some species breeding in polluted water - Awolola, T. S., Oduola, A. O., Obansa, J. B., Chukwurar, N. J., & Unyimadu, J. P. (2007). Anopheles gambiae ss breeding in polluted water bodies in urban Lagos, southwestern Nigeria. Journal of vector borne diseases, 44(4), 241. I have personally picked up anopheles larvae from unusual sites and harvested An.gambiae. With on-going vector behaviour shifts I guess its time to not only think outside the box but also look outside the box!
Very true Celina, even I have collected Anopheles from water coolers besides Aedes, there seems to be a habitat shift phenomenon going on in mosquito populations. Hence no wonder if we see them in unusual habitats.
we have recently published an article dealing with this topic, the quality of the water in which the different species of Algerian Sahara live (Effects of certain natural breeding site characteristics on the distribution of Culicidae (Diptera) mosquito species in southeast Algeria ). my concern is to make changes on the quality of the water in the conditions of the laboratory