Evaluation of Culex quinquefasciatus wings asymmetry after exposure of larvae to sublethal concentration of ivermectin

The surviving insects submitted to chemical control have morphological alterations that impact on their mechanisms of resistance and their final development. Those changes are detected and measured using physical features related to symmetry, specifically named fluctuating asymmetry. This is detected when deviations from the perfect bilateral symmetry for specific morphological characteristic is influenced by genetics or environmental stress. Thus, in this paper we analyze the wing in adult of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera - Culicidae) after larvae exposure to ivermectin LC 50 . Three hundred larvae of C. quinquefasciatus were exposed to ivermectin in 1.5 μg/L (LC 50 ) concentration during 30 min, and three hundred larvae were exposed to distilled pure water as control group. For fluctuating asymmetry, adult males and adult females were selected from each group ( n = 83) from the untreated group and ( n = 79) from treated group. Wings from adults of each group were mounted in glass microscope slides and coverslip in Canada’s balsam and analyzed with a stereomicroscope with a video camera attached. The treatment effect on M 3 + 4 was marginally significant with higher asymmetry values in the control group. The data obtained here suggest the importance of future experiments to elucidate the mechanisms associated with FA. Moreover, according to the results obtained, it may be suggested that FA is present in females in ornaments, or secondary sexual characters, as an indicator of phenotypic quality of the partners.