Modulation of larval nutrition affects midgut neutral lipid storage and temporal pattern of transcription factor expression during mosquito metamorphosis.

During holometabolous insect development the critical weight marks a physiological transition after which juvenile hormone (JH) concentration decreases to such a level that a subsequent increase in ecdysone titer will initiate metamorphosis. Starvation experiments indicate that the Aedes aegypti critical weight is achieved by 24 h after the last larval-larval molt. When grown at 24 degrees C with excess food, the time between the critical weight and maximum weight (interval to cessation of growth) is about 24 h and pupation occurs about 24 h after the maximum weight is achieved.