Morphological study of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) eggs by X-ray computed microtomography. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: de Morais, Lilian Mirian Oliveira; Jussiani, Eduardo Inocente; Zequi, João Antonio Cyrino; dos Reis, Paulo José; Andrello, Avacir Casanova
• Is Part Of: Micron. Volume 126(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Eggs -- Aedes aegypti -- Aedes albopictus -- Micro-CT; Microscopy -- Periodicals; Electron Probe Microanalysis -- Periodicals; Microscopy -- Periodicals; Microscopie -- Périodiques; Microscopy; Periodicals; 502.82
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2019.102734
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0968-4328

Abstract

Highlights: Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus eggs were first studied by micro-CT. Several parameters of morphological interest were determined. Some parameters are unprecedented in the literature. It was possible to anatomically differentiate the eggs by micro-CT. Abstract: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are vectors of several arboviruses responsible for causing dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever viruses and microcephaly, resulting in a public health problem in several countries worldwide. Even in this scenario, studies on the morphology of mosquito eggs are still lacking. In this paper, X-ray microtomography was used to study mosquito egg morphology. Several parameters such as length, surface area, volume, area-by-volume ratio, eccentricity and center of mass of the eggs were determined. The results obtained showed that micro-CT is an efficient technique for the morphological study of insect eggs and provides information that cannot be obtained with other techniques.