Intraspecific competition among larvae of Aedes albopictus in conditions of food abundance and shortage

The competition between larvae of Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1987), an invasive mosquito species recently established in Italy, was evaluated in laboratory in conditions of food abundance and shortage. The number of emerging adults, the time of emergence and the size of the adult bodies were recorded and compared. The number of adults that emerge under conditions of food abundance was found to be significantly higher than under food shortage. When food was lacking more males than females emerged and there was no significant difference in their body sizes, while under food abundance females were larger than males. Both males and females with abundant food were on average bigger than under food shortage. There was no difference in the time of adult emergence in the two different food conditions