Biocontrol of larval mosquitoes by Acilius sulcatus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Chandra, Goutam; Mandal, Samir; Ghosh, Arup; Das, Dipanwita; Banerjee, Siddhartha S; Chakraborty, Sumanta

doi:10.1186/1471-2334-8-138

Cited by 34 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The predation rate of predator species and the survival rates of An. gambiae larvae in habitats with and without refugia were similar to results found by other studies in Kenya and elsewhere [8,9,11,25]. In our experiments, all predators were shown to consume intermediate size prey (third instars larvae) at the highest rate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Predation efficiency of Anopheles gambiae larvae by aquatic predators in western Kenya highlands

et al. 2011

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BackgroundThe current status of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes and the effects of insecticides on non-target insect species have raised the need for alternative control methods for malaria vectors. Predation has been suggested as one of the important regulation mechanisms for malaria vectors in long-lasting aquatic habitats, but the predation efficiency of the potential predators is largely unknown in the highlands of western Kenya. In the current study, we examined the predation efficiency of five predators on Anopheles gambiae s.s larvae in 24 hour and semi- field evaluations.MethodsPredators were collected from natural habitats and starved for 12 hours prior to starting experiments. Preliminary experiments were conducted to ascertain the larval stage most predated by each predator species. When each larval instar was subjected to predation, third instar larvae were predated at the highest rate. Third instar larvae of An. gambiae were introduced into artificial habitats with and without refugia at various larval densities. The numbers of surviving larvae were counted after 24 hours in 24. In semi-field experiments, the larvae were counted daily until they were all either consumed or had developed to the pupal stage. Polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm the presence of An. gambiae DNA in predator guts.ResultsExperiments found that habitat type (P < 0.0001) and predator species (P < 0.0001) had a significant impact on the predation rate in the 24 hour evaluations. In semi-field experiments, predator species (P < 0.0001) and habitat type (P < 0.0001) were significant factors in both the daily survival and the overall developmental time of larvae. Pupation rates took significantly longer in habitats with refugia. An. gambiae DNA was found in at least three out of ten midguts for all predator species. Gambusia affins was the most efficient, being three times more efficient than tadpoles.ConclusionThese experiments provide insight into the efficiency of specific natural predators against mosquito larvae. These naturally occurring predators may be useful in biocontrol strategies for aquatic stage An. gambiae mosquitoes. Further investigations should be done in complex natural habitats for these predators.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Predation efficiency of Anopheles gambiae larvae by aquatic predators in western Kenya highlands

et al. 2011

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“…This study, however shows that the nucleotide difference between the larval and deposited sequences correspond to adult stage were maximally 1-2% in Culicoides circumscriptus and Culicoides puncticollis. The results corroborate the findings in previous reports of molecular identification of Culicoides larvae which showed that the nucleotide differences between the larval and deposited sequences were maximally 3-4% in Culicoides kibunensis and Culicoides verbosus [13].…”

Section: Culicoides Speciessupporting

confidence: 91%

“…On the one hand, and from the ecological side, the numbers of larvae surpass the number of adults. Thus, the identification of larval instars is essential to predict the role of species in the environment [13,14]. On the other hand, knowledge of the larval taxonomy provides clues about their diet and feeding habitats that cannot be obtained from the adult morphology [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Method for Identifying the Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Larvae Stage IV

Slama¹,

Mezhoud²,

Babba³

et al. 2016

Biol syst Open Access

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Background: Many entomological investigations of Culicoides have used the adult specimens as samples for their studies. This is because immature stages are poorly known in most Culicoides species. The lack of correct identification systems of Culicoides larvae has been one of the major obstacles to understanding the field ecology of Culicoides species. Materials and methods: Culicoides larvae stage was extracted from mud. Larvae stage 2 and 3 were placed in Petri dishes to continue their development to stage IV after pupation. Larvae stage IV showing the same morphology was divided into 2 groups. First group was grown up to reach the adult stage. Second group of larvae stage IV was used for molecular identification. Thus, DNA was extracted and used as a template for a genus-specific PCR. PCR products were then sequenced and analyzed. Results: This seems to be the first report identifying Culicoides larvae stage IV by molecular and morphological techniques. By using this method, the sequence of Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 of two Culicoides larvae: C. circumscriptus and C. Puncticollis are identified for the first time.

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“…As generalist predators, dytiscids may feed on all available prey taxa and mosquito larvae will be only one prey among others however super-abundant. Many dytiscids are known to include mosquito larvae in their diet (Deding, 1988;Nilsson & Söderström, 1988;Nilsson & Svensson, 1994;Lundkvist et al, 2003;Medlock & Snow, 2008), and a few studies show that dytiscids may lower the mosquito larvae abundance in lab and in the field (Lundkvist et al, 2003;Aditya et al, 2006;Chandra et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diving beetle assemblages of flooded wetlands in relation to time, wetland type and Bti-based mosquito control

et al. 2009

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This paper has not been submitted elsewhere in identical or similar form, nor will it be during the first three months after its submission to Hydrobiologia. 2 AbstractWe investigated the abundance and taxonomic composition of the aquatic predatory insect fauna, with focus on adult diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), in eight temporary flooded relation to time and wetland type, and 2) to evaluate the effect on the aquatic predator assemblage of strongly reducing the abundance of a potential prey, flood-water mosquito larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) with Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) during floods. We found diving beetles to be the dominating aquatic predatory insect taxa in all ten wetlands.There was a difference in Dytiscidae species richness but not in diversity between wet meadows and alder swamps after rarefaction. The cluster analysis based on dytiscid species and abundances showed very high similarities between the wetlands. The variance component analysis was unable to distinguish any factor that could explain more than 7.4% of the variation in the dytiscid species assemblages. The only effect of Bti-treatment against floodwater mosquito larvae, potential food for the predatory dytiscids, was a slight increase in abundance of the medium-sized dytiscid species. Our results are in accordance with previous studies, suggesting that irregular and recurrent flood dynamic structure the dytiscid fauna more than food limitations and environmental factors.3

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Biocontrol of larval mosquitoes by Acilius sulcatus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Cited by 34 publications

References 21 publications

Predation efficiency of Anopheles gambiae larvae by aquatic predators in western Kenya highlands

Predation efficiency of Anopheles gambiae larvae by aquatic predators in western Kenya highlands

Novel Method for Identifying the Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Larvae Stage IV

Diving beetle assemblages of flooded wetlands in relation to time, wetland type and Bti-based mosquito control

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