Dopamine levels in the mosquito Aedes aegypti during adult development, following blood feeding and in response to heat stress

Dopamine, a catecholamine neurotransmitter, is important for insect development and is known to be involved in insect stress responses. In the current study, dopamine was analysed in Aedes aegypti heads by HPLC. We found that immediately after adult emergence, males have significantly higher concentrations of dopamine than females, and that dopamine concentrations decrease with age in both sexes. Dopamine levels increase in females following a blood meal suggesting that dopamine might be involved in ovarian- and/or egg-development. We also found that female mosquitoes have a higher tolerance to a short term thermal stress in a water bath than males up to 44 °C, however, both sexes die if exposed to short term temperatures between 44 and 45 °C. Finally, we did not find any indication that dopamine levels were associated with short time thermal stress response in female mosquitoes.