response to other visual and physical parameters during pre-oviposition stage and oviposition response to soil surface characteristic For its acceptability to gravid females, three characteristics of soil are important, namely: the soil type, the moisture content and the soil texture. IDOMAL:0002336 IDOMAL:0002336 Species of Aedes and Psorophora characteristically deposit their eggs on substrata immediately adjacent to bodies of water or on moist substrata in places subject to inundation. The importance of the characteristics of a soil surface for its acceptability to gravid females was illustrated by the use of a human-made habitat by 2 flood water mosquitoes, Aedes vexans and Psorophora columbiae. Survival of the eggs on moist surfaces is an important aspect of anophelines fitness. idomal_namespace