Darriet Frédéric auteur aut IRD Corbel Vincent auteur aut IRD text journalArticle fre text/pdf born digital access The authors investigated in this paper the attractiveness of a water colonized ('positive' breeding site) or not ('negative' breeding site) by larvae of Aedes aegypti on gravid females and then characterized their physicochemical properties to identify and quantify the principal components. The results showed that the water that sheltered several generations of larvae was more attractive to gravid females than water that had never been colonized. The water in a 'positive' breeding site contains 2.5 times more ammonium ions (NH4+), four times more nitrite ions (NO2-) and 20 times more nitrate ions (NO3-) than 'negative' breeding water. The authors suggest that in the 'positive' breeding sites, where the larvae absorb the organic matter, the turbidity of water decreases, which makes it possible for organic nitrogen to be converted into nitrites and nitrates via the nitrifying activity of the bacteria (NH4+ -> NO2- -> NO3-). It is likely that chitin, while accumulating and decomposing at the bottom of the breeding site, may increase the percentage of organic carbon and ammonium ions, then reinforcing the nitrification process. Conversely, in the 'negative' breeding site where the conditions of evolution of the nitrifying bacteria are more restrictive, the nitrogen remains primarily in its organic form. specialized Aedes aegypti Larvae Oviposition preference Nitrogen Carbon Chitin Bacterium 052 331 8 617-622 2008 1631-0691 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010042749 10.1016/j.crvi.2008.05.003 1631-0691 [F B010042749] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010042749 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2008/09/010042749.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2008-10-06 2017-02-10 fdi:010042749 fre