Abstract
Invasion of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in the West African sub-region has coincided with multiple outbreaks of dengue fever. Unfortunately, little is known about the biology and ecology of the invasive Aedes albopictus and native vectors Aedes aegypti, Aedes vittatus. This study investigated the immature development time and survivorship of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Aedes vittatus mosquitoes in Ghana. Larval life-tables were conducted under semi-field conditions. Larval development time, pupation rate, and survivorship were recorded daily. Larval development time from L1→L4 was not significantly different among species. The pupation rate (Ae. aegypti: 88.7 ± 6.5, Ae. albopictus: 88 ± 9.6, Ae. vittatus: 82.7 ± 5.5) did not differ significantly. Survivorship of Ae. aegypti (0.83 ± 0.06), Ae. albopictus (0.80 ± 0.05) and Ae. vittatus (0.74 ± 0.04) was not statistically different. In combined microcosms, where all three species were raised together, survivorship of Ae. vittatus was lower (0.76 ± 0.18) compared to Ae. aegypti (0.84 ± 0.21) and Ae. albopictus (0.82 ± 0.18). This study shows that the invasive dengue vector Ae. albopictus exhibits developmental time and survival rates that are close to those of the native Ae. aegypti, indicating successful adaptation to local environments. These findings suggest that, Ae. albopictus could establish, proliferate, and compete with native dengue vectors in Ghana.
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All datasets generated during this study are available on request.
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Acknowledgements
We sincerely appreciate the residents of the communities that served as study sites for their support during our study. Our sincere gratitude goes to all the staff of the Takoradi port and Tema port for their support and assistance.
Funding
This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (RO3 AI186018, and D43 TW 011513). The funding agency had no involvement in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.
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YAA conceived, designed and supervised the study. YA-B, ENB and SKEM were responsible for the study data collection. YA-B, MGM, NASE and AA contributed to the analysis of the data. YA-B, MGM and YAA drafted the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of the Ghana Health Service (GHS; GHS-ERC 021/07/23). The first author (YA-B) donated blood to feed the F0 generation to obtain the F1 generation that was used to undertake this experiment. This decision was made by him solely and not under any compulsion from anyone.
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Akuamoah-Boateng, Y., Machani, M.G., Boadu, E.N. et al. Immature development time and survivorship of the dengue vectors Aedes aegypti, Aedes vittatus, and the invasive Aedes albopictus in Ghana. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36526-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36526-x
