Colonization of Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus from Riohacha, Colombia

The main objective of the present work was to establish and maintain a colony of Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, Riohacha strain, under laboratory conditions and to study its life cycle. The colony's insectary was established from adult male and female mosquitoes collected from peripheral neighborhoods of Riohacha, Colombia. Environmental conditions established in the insectary were 26.5°C average temperature, 80% average relative humidity, and 12 h photoperiodicity. Eight continuous generations were taken into account for maintaining the mosquitoes and analyzing their life cycle. The male mosquito's average life cycle was 26.8 days. The female's cycle was 30.8 days. Analysis of each of the biological stages of development (mean days) produced the following results: egg incubation 4.55 ± 0.291, larvae 8.28 ± 0.499, pupae 1.32 ± 0.215, adult male 12.65 ± 5.920, and adult female 16.73 ± 6.034. The Riohacha colony has been maintained for 32 generations in 31 months. Comparison of the Riohacha colony with the previously established Cartagena and Barranquilla colonies showed few differences in the duration of stages of the life cycle between strains.