Mosquito community structure in phytotelmata from a South American temperate wetland

Abstract

Phytotelmata, or plant-held waters, are considered to be good model systems for the study of community ecology. The fauna of these natural container habitats, particularly the mosquitoes, have been extensively investigated in tropical regions, but there is little known about them in temperate South America. We assessed the structure of immature mosquito communities in leaf axils, tree holes, and bamboo stumps from a temperate wetland of Argentina. A total of 4,330 immature mosquitoes were collected among the 2,606 phytotelmata inspected. Leaf axils of eight plant species and tree holes were larval habitats for nine mosquito species belonging to the genus Culex, Wyeomyia, Isostomyia, and Toxorhynchites. The mosquito communities showed richness ranging from one to four species. Marked differences were detected in the plant specificity for the species collected. Some of them were exclusively found in one plant species (Isostomyia paranensis in Scirpus giganteus), whereas others were collected in up to five plant species but belonging to the same phytotelm class, the leaf axils. Those from tree holes are well-known dwellers of artificial containers and ground water habitats, such as Culex pipiens. Our results support the idea of low mosquito richness in phytotelmata from temperate regions in comparison with tropical areas, but the observed specificity patterns echo the findings of tropical forests. Journal of Vector Ecology 36 (2): 437-446. 2011.

Aquatic Diptera (Insecta) assemblages in four sympatricEryngium(Apiaceae) phytotelmata in flowering and senescent times

“…and Schltdl. and Eryngium eburneum Decne (Albicócco et al 2011), and seasonal prevalence of Harpellales (Zygomycota: Trichomycetes) from chironomid larvae (Siri et al 2008).…”

Distribution of the members of the Pipiens Assemblage in the sympatric area from Argentina: which is where and when?

“…pipiens s.l. have been previously recorded in a wide diversity of aquatic habitats in the region, including tree holes and ground pools (Albicócco et al 2011, Cardo et al 2011). To which extent the members of the Pipiens Assemblage differentially occupy these habitats remains an unstudied issue.…”

“…In Buenos Aires, it is the most abundant mosquito in artificial containers (Vezzani & Albicócco 2009, Rubio et al 2011) and one of the three most abundant in premises (Vezzani et al 2011). It has also been collected in a wide variety of larval habitats in wild recreational areas located close to the metropolitan area (Albicócco et al 2011, Cardo et al 2011), in which the abundance of migratory birds contribute to the risk of entry of different arboviruses to the region. The first record of hybrids was made by Brewer et al (1987) between 30 and 32º S. In a latitudinal transect spanning 25-42º S, Almirón et al (1995) found exclusively Cx.…”

Urban mosquito management administration: Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) habitat surveillance and questionnaire survey in Wuhan, Central China

“…Three larval indices, container index (CI, defined as the percentage of mosquito habitats that are positive for immature mosquitoes) [26], route index (RI, defined as the number of mosquito-positive habitats per km of inspection route) and time index (TI, defined as the number of mosquito-positive habitats per hour of inspection) [22] were calculated for each premise type. LMWs were excluded in the above calculation.…”