Mosquito phytophagy – sources exploited, ecological function, and evolutionary transition to haematophagy

Peach, Daniel A H; Gries, Gerhard

doi:10.1111/eea.12852

Cited by 59 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 202 publications

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“…Floral nectar is the dominant source of plant sugar for most mosquitoes but other sugar sources such as extra-floral nectar, aphid honeydew, and fruit juices are also consumed [ 22 , 26 ]. Inflorescence semiochemicals [ 27 ] along with visual inflorescence displays [ 28 ] and CO 2 [ 29 ] attract mosquitoes to various inflorescences [ 22 , 29 – 31 ] that they distinguish by scent [ 32 , 33 ] and may pollinate [ 34 – 37 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator, Culex pipiens L.

et al. 2021

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Background There is widespread interkingdom signalling between insects and microbes. For example, microbes found in floral nectar may modify its nutritional composition and produce odorants that alter the floral odor bouquet which may attract insect pollinators. Mosquitoes consume nectar and can pollinate flowers. We identified microbes isolated from nectar of common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, elucidated the microbial odorants, and tested their ability to attract the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens. Results We collected 19 microbial isolates from T. vulgare nectar, representing at least 12 different taxa which we identified with 16S or 26S rDNA sequencing as well as by biochemical and physiological tests. Three microorganisms (Lachancea thermotolerans, Micrococcus lactis, Micrococcus luteus) were grown on culture medium and tested in bioassays. Only the yeast L. thermotolerans grown on nectar, malt extract agar, or in synthetic nectar broth significantly attracted Cx. pipiens females. The odorant profile produced by L. thermotolerans varied with the nutritional composition of the culture medium. All three microbes grown separately, but presented concurrently, attracted fewer Cx. pipiens females than L. thermotolerans by itself. Conclusions Floral nectar of T. vulgare contains various microbes whose odorants contribute to the odor profile of inflorescences. In addition, L. thermotolerans produced odorants that attract Cx. pipiens females. As the odor profile of L. thermotolerans varied with the composition of the culture medium, we hypothesize that microbe odorants inform nectar-foraging mosquitoes about the availability of certain macro-nutrients which, in turn, affect foraging decisions by mosquitoes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator, Culex pipiens L.

et al. 2021

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“…The majority of mosquito species feed from floral nectaries and other sources of plant fluids, including, e.g., extrafloral nectaries, fruits, and honeydew (Barredo and DeGennaro 2020 ; Foster et al 1995 ; Peach and Gries 2020 ). The prevalence of feeding on plant fluids, however, may be affected by external factors, including, e.g., differences in habitat and the seasonal availability of plant resources, which significantly increase the observed variability in plant fluid procurement by mosquitoes (Müller and Schlein 2005 ; Spencer et al 2005 ).…”

Section: The Behavioural Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of odour-guided behaviour in mosquitoes

Hill

2021

Cell Tissue Res

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Mosquitoes are emerging as model systems with which to study innate behaviours through neuroethology and functional genomics. Decades of work on these disease vectors have provided a solid behavioural framework describing the distinct repertoire of predominantly odour-mediated behaviours of female mosquitoes, and their dependence on life stage (intrinsic factors) and environmental cues (extrinsic factors). The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of how intrinsic factors, including adult maturation, age, nutritional status, and infection, affect the attraction to plants and feeding on plant fluids, host seeking, blood feeding, supplemental feeding behaviours, pre-oviposition behaviour, and oviposition in female mosquitoes. With the technological advancements in the recent two decades, we have gained a better understanding of which volatile organic compounds are used by mosquitoes to recognise and discriminate among various fitness-enhancing resources, and characterised their neural and molecular correlates. In this review, we present the state of the art of the peripheral olfactory system as described by the neural physiology, functional genomics, and genetics underlying the demonstrated changes in the behavioural repertoire in female mosquitoes. The review is meant as a summary introduction to the current conceptual thinking in the field.

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“…A change in any or all these factors can impact a mosquito’s capacity to disperse over short or long distances. As an example, changes in mosquito physiology such as an increase in the accumulation of glycogen stores in fibrillar thoracic muscles, can occur when mosquitoes ingest nectar from plants [ 26 , 27 ]. This provides mosquitoes with energy to fly over long distances.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Mosquito Dispersalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating statistical and mechanistic approaches with biotic and environmental variables improves model predictions of the impact of climate and land-use changes on future mosquito-vector abundance, diversity and distributions in Australia

et al. 2020

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Changes to Australia’s climate and land-use patterns could result in expanded spatial and temporal distributions of endemic mosquito vectors including Aedes and Culex species that transmit medically important arboviruses. Climate and land-use changes greatly influence the suitability of habitats for mosquitoes and their behaviors such as mating, feeding and oviposition. Changes in these behaviors in turn determine future species-specific mosquito diversity, distribution and abundance. In this review, we discuss climate and land-use change factors that influence shifts in mosquito distribution ranges. We also discuss the predictive and epidemiological merits of incorporating these factors into a novel integrated statistical (SSDM) and mechanistic species distribution modelling (MSDM) framework. One potentially significant merit of integrated modelling is an improvement in the future surveillance and control of medically relevant endemic mosquito vectors such as Aedes vigilax and Culex annulirostris, implicated in the transmission of many arboviruses such as Ross River virus and Barmah Forest virus, and exotic mosquito vectors such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. We conducted a focused literature search to explore the merits of integrating SSDMs and MSDMs with biotic and environmental variables to better predict the future range of endemic mosquito vectors. We show that an integrated framework utilising both SSDMs and MSDMs can improve future mosquito-vector species distribution projections in Australia. We recommend consideration of climate and environmental change projections in the process of developing land-use plans as this directly impacts mosquito-vector distribution and larvae abundance. We also urge laboratory, field-based researchers and modellers to combine these modelling approaches. Having many different variations of integrated (SDM) modelling frameworks could help to enhance the management of endemic mosquitoes in Australia. Enhanced mosquito management measures could in turn lead to lower arbovirus spread and disease notification rates.

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Mosquito phytophagy – sources exploited, ecological function, and evolutionary transition to haematophagy

Cited by 59 publications

References 202 publications

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator, Culex pipiens L.

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator, Culex pipiens L.

Modulation of odour-guided behaviour in mosquitoes

Integrating statistical and mechanistic approaches with biotic and environmental variables improves model predictions of the impact of climate and land-use changes on future mosquito-vector abundance, diversity and distributions in Australia

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