Short-term reproductive diapause by Culex tarsalis (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Coachella Valley of California.

Culex tarsalis Coquillett from the Coachella Valley in southeastern California enter a short-term reproductive diapause that is terminated by changes in photoperiod at or shortly after the winter solstice. Reproductively active and unfed resting females exhibited respective increases and decreases in parity rates during December that were characteristic of diapause induction, although reproductively active females, larvae, and males were collected during every month throughout winter. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that females from Coachella Valley enter and maintain a facultative reproductive diapause similar to females from the more northern San Joaquin Valley when exposed to simulated winter conditions. In environmental chambers, diapause termination was not related to temperature accrual because females terminated diapause at approximately the same time regardless of temperature regimens. A field experiment showed that female cohorts emerging in the Coachella Valley from late October through December entered a reproductive diapause that was terminated synchronously by changing photoperiod in late December.