Effects of scarcity and excess of larval food on life history traits of<i>Aedes aegypti</i>(Diptera: Culicidae)

Aznar, Victoria Teresa Romeo; Alem, Iris Soledad; Majo, María Sol De; Byttebier, Barbara; Solari, Hernán G.; Fischer, Sylvia

doi:10.1111/jvec.12291

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Food deprivation can have several carry-over effects on mosquito life. A longer development time under conditions of food insufficiency has been observed before (Tun-Lin et al, 2000; Arrivillaga and Barrera, 2004; Dominic et al, 2005; Vantaux et al, 2016; Aznar et al, 2018), with mosquito larva that take longer time to reach pupa stage (Telang et al, 2007; Levi et al, 2014; Banerjee et al, 2015). An extended larval stage is generally associated with an increased risk of mortality as a consequence of predation, breeding site instability and human interference (Padmanabha et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Microorganism-Based Larval Diets Affect Mosquito Development, Size and Nutritional Reserves in the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Souza

Virginio

Riback³

et al. 2019

Front. Physiol.

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Background Mosquito larvae feed on organic detritus from the environment, particularly microorganisms comprising bacteria, protozoa, and algae as well as crustaceans, plant debris, and insect exuviae. Little attention has been paid to nutritional studies in Aedes aegypti larvae. Objectives We investigated the effects of yeast, bacteria and microalgae diets on larval development, pupation time, adult size, emergence, survivorship, lifespan, and wing morphology. Materials and Methods Microorganisms (or Tetramin ® as control) were offered as the only source of food to recently hatched first instar larvae and their development was followed until the adult stage. Protein, carbohydrate, glycogen, and lipid were analyzed in single larvae to correlate energetic reserve accumulation by larva with the developmental rates and nutritional content observed. FITC-labeled microorganisms were offered to fourth instar larvae, and its ingestion was recorded by fluorescence microscopy and quantitation. Results and Discussion Immature stages developed in all diets, however, larvae fed with bacteria and microalgae showed a severe delay in development rates, pupation time, adult emergence and low survivorship. Adult males emerged earlier as expected and had longer survival than females. Diets with better nutritional quality resulted in adults with bigger wings. Asaia sp. and Escherichia coli resulted in better nutrition and developmental parameters and seemed to be the best bacterial candidates to future studies using symbiont-based control. The diet quality was measured and presented different protein and carbohydrate amounts. Bacteria had the lowest protein and carbohydrate rates, yeasts had the highest carbohydrate amount and microalgae showed the highest protein content. Larvae fed with microalgae seem not to be able to process and store these diets properly. Larvae were shown to be able to process yeast cells and store their energetic components efficiently. Conclusion Together, our results point that Ae. aegypti larvae show high plasticity to feed, being able to develop under different microorganism-based diets. The important role of Ae. aegypti in the spread of infectious diseases requires further biological studies in order to understand the vector physiology and thus to manage the larval natural breeding sites aiming a better mosquito control.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Microorganism-Based Larval Diets Affect Mosquito Development, Size and Nutritional Reserves in the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Souza

Virginio

Riback³

et al. 2019

Front. Physiol.

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“…Studies on the effects of resource availability on mosquito traits generally report a positive association between food level and juvenile development and survival [34–36], as well as adult body size, nutritional reserves and fecundity. Many studies have examined how resource quantity effects fitness in interaction with larval density, as competition for limited resources between larvae is generally believed to be a major regulator of adult mosquito abundance [37–39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of resource limitation on the temperature-dependence of mosquito population fitness

Huxley

Murray

Pawar

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Laboratory-derived temperature-dependencies of life history traits are increasingly being used to make mechanistic predictions for how climatic warming will affect the abundance of disease vectors. These laboratory data are typically from populations reared on optimal resource supply, even though natural populations are expected to experience fluctuations in resource availability.Using laboratory experiments and stage-structured population projection modelling, here we ask how resource limitation affects temperature-dependence of life history traits and emergent fitness of a principal arbovirus vector, Aedes aegypti, across a temperature range it typically experiences (22–32°C).We show that low-resource supply significantly depresses the vector’s maximal population growth rate (rmax) across the entire temperature range and causes it to peak at a lower temperature, than under high-resource supply. This difference is driven by the fact that resource limitation significantly increases juvenile mortality, slows development, and reduces lifespan and size at maturity (which then decreases fecundity in adults). These results show that resource supply can significantly affect the temperature-dependence of population-level fitness of disease vectors by modifying the thermal responses of underlying traits.Our study suggests that by ignoring resource limitation, projections of vector abundance and disease transmission based on laboratory studies are likely to substantially underestimate the effect of temperature on development time and juvenile survival, and overestimate the effect of temperature on lifespan, size and fecundity.Our results provide compelling evidence for future studies to consider resource supply when making predictions about the effects of climate and habitat change on disease vectors. More generally, our results point at the need to consider the effects of resource limitation on temperature-dependence of life history traits to further advance Ecological Metabolic Theory and improve its utility for predicting the responses of holometabolous insects to climate change.

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“…The first experiment also suggests that less food added over a longer time was better for survival (but not necessarily for growth). Survival decreases at both low levels of larval food and at high levels of larval food [1] [39].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition and growth in Aedes aegypti larvae: effects of distributing food inputs over time

Steinwascher

2020

Preprint

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Male and female mosquito larvae compete for different subsets of the yeast food resource in laboratory microcosms. Males compete more intensely with males and females with females. The amount and timing of food inputs alters both growth and competition, but the effects are different between sexes. Increased density increases competition among males. Among females, density operates primarily by changing the food/larva or total food; this affects competition in some interactions and growth in others. Food added earlier in the life span contributes more to mass than the same quantity added later. After a period of starvation larvae appear to use some of the subsequent food input to rebuild physiological reserves in addition to building mass. The timing of pupation is affected by the independent factors and competition, but not in the same way for the two sexes, and not in the same way as mass at pupation for the two sexes. There is an effect of density on the timing of pupation for females independent of competition or changes in food/larva or total food. Male and female larvae have different larval life history strategies. Males grow quickly to a minimum size, then pupate, depending on the amount of food available. Males that do not grow quickly enough may delay pupation further to grow larger, resulting in a bimodal distribution of sizes and ages. Males appear to have a maximum size determined by the early food level. Females grow faster than males and grow larger than males on the same food inputs. Females affect the growth and competition among males by manipulating the number of particles in the microcosm through changes in feeding behavior. Mosquito larvae appear to have evolved to survive periods of starvation and take advantage of intermittent inputs of food into containers.

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Effects of scarcity and excess of larval food on life history traits ofAedes aegypti(Diptera: Culicidae)

Cited by 19 publications

References 32 publications

Microorganism-Based Larval Diets Affect Mosquito Development, Size and Nutritional Reserves in the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Microorganism-Based Larval Diets Affect Mosquito Development, Size and Nutritional Reserves in the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

The effect of resource limitation on the temperature-dependence of mosquito population fitness

Competition and growth in Aedes aegypti larvae: effects of distributing food inputs over time

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