Resumen La reproducción sexual en animales es un proceso complejo que va más allá de la unión entre espermatozoide y óvulo. De hecho, la generación exitosa de la progenie depende, en gran medida, de una serie de conductas pre copulatorias específicas de la especie y el sexo, así como de interacciones físicas y moleculares que ocurren durante y después del apareamiento. Dichas señales e interacciones facilitan la localización, el reconocimiento y la atracción de la pareja, y aseguran la fertilización exitosa del huevo. Esta revisión se centró en los procesos comportamentales y fisiológicos necesarios para la reproducción en mosquitos vectores de enfermedades, Aedes y Anopheles. Se destacan trabajos recientes que han dilucidado los comportamientos pre-apareamiento de machos y hembras que conducen a una cópula exitosa y se describen los cambios fisiológicos y de comportamiento posteriores al apareamiento observados en las hembras, que facilitan, principalmente, la producción de progenie. Así mismo, se discute el papel de las moléculas específicas del sexo en la mediación de los cambios posteriores al apareamiento observados en las hembras apareadas de Aedes y Anopheles. Finalmente, se da una descripción general de cómo los factores ambientales (por ejemplo, la temperatura, el estado nutricional o la composición del microbioma) pueden influir en la fertilidad de los adultos.

Abstract Sexual reproduction in animals is more than the union of sperm and eggs, as the successful generation of progeny requires a series of interactions, e.g., behavioral, physical, and molecular, between males and females to ensure that a spermatozoon will ultimately fertilize an egg. Thus, reproduction is a complex process in which species- and sex-specific behavioral cues are required for the localization, recognition, and attraction of a sexual partner, and post-insemination interactions between male and female molecules mediate physiological and behavioral changes in females necessary for optimal reproductive output. In this review, we have focused on the behavioral and physiological processes required for reproduction in Aedes and Anopheles vector mosquitoes. We highlight recent work that has elucidated the pre-mating behaviors of males and females that lead to a successful copulation, describe the post-mating behavioral and physiological changes observed in females, which primarily serve to facilitate the production of progeny, and discuss the role of sex-specific molecules in mediating the post-mating changes observed in mated Aedes and Anopheles females. Finally, we give an overview of how environmental factors (e.g., temperature, nutritional status, or the composition of the microbiome) can influence adult fertility.

BACKGROUND Flight tones play important roles in mosquito reproduction. Several mosquito species utilise flight tones for mate localisation and attraction. Typically, the female wingbeat frequency (WBF) is lower than males, and stereotypic acoustic behaviors are instrumental for successful copulation. Mosquito WBFs are usually an important species characteristic, with female flight tones used as male attractants in surveillance traps for species identification. Anopheles darlingi is an important Latin American malaria vector, but we know little about its mating behaviors. OBJECTIVES We characterised An. darlingi WBFs and examined male acoustic responses to immobilised females. METHODS Tethered and free flying male and female An. darlingi were recorded individually to determine their WBF distributions. Male-female acoustic interactions were analysed using tethered females and free flying males. FINDINGS Contrary to most mosquito species, An. darlingi females are smaller than males. However, the male’s WBF is ~1.5 times higher than the females, a common ratio in species with larger females. When in proximity to a female, males displayed rapid frequency modulations that decreased upon genitalia engagement. Tethered females also modulated their frequency upon male approach, being distinct if the interaction ended in copulation or only contact. MAIN CONCLUSIONS This is the first report of An. darlingi flight acoustics, showing that its precopulatory acoustics are similar to other mosquitoes despite the uncommon male:female size ratio, suggesting that WBF ratios are common communication strategies rather than a physical constraint imposed by size.