Quantifying the roles of water pH and hardness levels in development and biological fitness indices of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae)

The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology

Table 4 Effects of water pH and hardness levels on emergence rates and longevity of adult life stage of Culex quinquefasciatus

Physico-chemical parameter	Concentration	Number of emergent imagoes	Average post-emergence longevity (days)****
pH levels	4.0	12.75** ± 6.85^b*	9.73 ± 2.52^a
	5.0	47.13 ± 1.13^c	14.01 ± 1.79^b
	6.0	46.87 ± 2.75^c	20.59 ± 2.26^c
	7.0	47.00 ± 4.28^c	20.11 ± 1.84^c
	8.0	49.63 ± 0.52^c	20.04 ± 1.20^c
	9.0	46.75 ± 2.05^c	13.07 ± 0.83^b
	10.0	8.75 ± 8.26^a	9.53 ± 1.09^a
Hardness regimen (mg/L CaCO₃)	0	88.00*** ± 4.11^d	15.07 ± 1.17^c
	30	77.38 ± 7.05^c	16.16 ± 0.80^c
	90	76.38 ± 5.10^c	15.63 ± 2.30^c
	150	37.25 ± 6.61^b	8.20 ± 1.34^b
	210	10.38 ± 3.16^a	6.18 ± 1.27^a

*Within a column, means (± SD) followed by the same letter are not significantly different at p < 0.05 according to Duncan multiple range test following analysis of variance (ANOVA). **Per 50 larvae. ***Per 100 larvae. ****Adult was sugar fed only