Thermal acclimation
Increases in thermal tolerance after exposure to warmer temperatures during development—a form of thermal acclimation—have been documented in several mosquito species (An. albimanus , Benedict et al. 1991; An. arabiensis and An. funestus , Lyons et al. 2012; Cx. pipiens , Gray 2013; Ae. aegypti, Sivan et al. 2020). However, increases in thermal limits were typically minimal, suggesting a limited capacity for thermal acclimation to reduce mortality at high temperatures and enable population persistence. For example, the critical thermal limits of respirometry, motor function, or survival increased by less than 2°C for populations developing in 5°C warmer environments (Benedict et al. 1991, Lyons et al. 2012, Gray 2013). Similarly, critical thermal maxima varied minimally with acclimation temperatures across a diverse range of over 200 ectotherm species (Gunderson and Stillman 2015, Somero et al. 2016, van Heerwaarden et al. 2016, Rohr et al. 2018).