The Asian bush mosquito, Aedes japonicus japonicus, and the coastal rock pool mosquito, Aedes togoi, are potential disease vectors present in both East Asia and North America. While their ranges are fairly well‐documented in Asia, this is not the case for North America. We used maximum entropy modeling to estimate the potential distributions of Ae. togoi and Ae. j. japonicus in the United States, Canada, and northern Latin America under contemporary and future climatic conditions. Our results suggest suitable habitat that is not known to be occupied for Ae. j. japonicus in Atlantic and western Canada, Alaska, the western, midwestern, southern, and northeastern United States, and Latin America, and for Ae. togoi along the Pacific coast of North America and the Hawaiian Islands. Such areas are at risk of future invasion or may already contain undetected populations of these species. Our findings further predict that the limits of suitable habitat for each species will expand northward under future climatic conditions.
Plant essential oils (EOs) have been considered as spatial repellents to help disrupt the pathogen transmission cycle of mosquitoes. Our objective was to assess spatial repellency effects of EOs on the tropical yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) and on local mosquito populations in coastal British Columbia (Canada). In laboratory experiments using protocols of the World Health Organization, three of the solitary EOs tested proved repellent to Ae. aegypti: cinnamon bark, lemongrass, and rosemary. Binary combinations of select EOs enhanced the repellent effect of single EOs through synergistic interactions. The EO blend of geranium and peppermint lowered the RD50 (the dose required to obtain 50% repellency) of each solitary EO by >1,000-fold. Compared with binary EO blends, ternary EO blends were typically less repellent to mosquitoes, possibly due to a dilution effect of the most effective EO constituent(s) in the blend. In field experiments, the EO blend of lemongrass and cinnamon bark expressed spatial repellency towards the cool weather mosquito, Culiseta incidens (Thomson) (Diptera: Culicidae), even when this blend was disseminated from devices as much as 1 m away from a sentinel trap releasing attractive vertebrate host odorants and CO2. Deployment of EOs as spatial repellents in small outdoor gatherings could help protect humans from mosquito-borne diseases, particularly when this tactic is coupled with other tools of mosquito management.
BACKGROUND: Harnessing insect ecology for insect control is an innovative concept that seeks to exploit, among others, insect-microbe ecological interactions for improved control of pest insects. Microbe-produced cheese odour attracts several dipterans, including host-seeking mosquitoes, but this phenomenon has not been thoroughly explored for mosquito control.Here we tested the hypothesis that attraction of mosquitoes to cheese odour can be exploited as an ecological trap for mosquito control.RESULTS: In laboratory and/or field experiments, we show that (i) each of five cheese varieties tested (Raclette, Pecorino, Brie, Gruyere, Limburger) strongly attracts female Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens; (ii) cheese infusions, or headspace odourant extracts (HOEs) of cheese infusions, significantly affect oviposition choices by mosquitoes, (iii) HOEs contain at least 13 odourants; (iv) in field settings, cheese infusions more effectively stimulate mosquito oviposition than positive bluegrass infusion controls, and also capture (by drowning) the spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii; and (v) home-made cheese infusions modulate oviposition choices by mosquito females and affect the survivorship of their offspring larvae. CONCLUSION: Our data show that microbial metabolites associated with cheese are attractive to mosquito females seeking hosts and oviposition sites and are likely toxic to mosquito larvae. These microbes and their metabolites could thus be co-opted for both the attract, and the kill, function of 'attract & kill' mosquito control tactics. Implementation of customizable and nonconventional nutritional media as microbe-based ecological traps presents a promising concept which exploits insect ecology for insect control.
We tested the hypothesis that the “ecological trap” phenomenon (a mismatch between a habitat’s perceived attractiveness and its actual quality, resulting in a population sink) is exploitable for pest control. We selected mosquitoes as modal organisms, because selection of an oviposition site by adult female mosquitoes in response to its perceived attractiveness is of paramount importance for the development and survival of their larval offspring. In laboratory and/or field experiments, we show that (i) each of five cheese varieties tested (Raclette, Pecorino, Brie, Gruyere, Limburger) strongly attracts females of both the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and the common house mosquito, Cx. pipiens; (ii) cheese infusions, or headspace odorant extracts (HOEs) of cheese infusions, significantly affect oviposition choices by Cx. pipiens and Ae. aegypti, (iii) HOEs contain at least 13 odorants; (iv) in field settings, cheese infusions more effectively stimulate oviposition by Cx. pipiens and Culiseta incidens than bluegrass (Poa sp.) infusions, and also capture (by drowning) the spotted wing Drosophila (SWD); (v) the microbe composition of home-made cheese infusions modulates oviposition choices by mosquitoes; and (vi) the type of cheese infusion coupled with its nutritional content strongly affects the survivorship of mosquito larvae. In combination, our data show that microbial metabolites associated with cheese and cheese infusions are both attractive to adult mosquitoes seeking hosts and oviposition sites, respectively, and are toxic to mosquito larvae. These microbes and their metabolites could thus be coopted for both the attract and the kill function of “attract & kill” mosquito control tactics. Implementation of customizable and non-conventional nutritional media, such as home-made cheese infusions, as microbe-based ecological traps presents a promising concept which exploits insect ecology for insect control.
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