The Effects of Host Distributional Patterns on Parasite Transmission: Aedes aegypti Larvae and Plagiorchis noblei Cercariae

Abstract

The effects of distributional patterns of the host on the acquisition of Plagiorchis noblei cercariae by Aedes aegypti larvae were determined. Mosquito larvae that were allowed to disperse were more susceptible to infection than confined larvae. Because these mosquito larvae are known to aggregate in light and disperse in darkness, they are more likely to acquire P. noblei infections at night. The timing of cercarial emergence in relation to the distributional patterns of the mosquito host is discussed.

Recruitment rate of gymnophallid metacercariae in the New Zealand cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi: an experimental test of the hitch-hiking hypothesis

“…There are a number of factors that can determine why certain individuals are more susceptible to parasitic infections. These factors can be intrinsic, such as the host organism's innate resistance to infection (Grosholz 1994;Schmid-Hempel 2003), age (Gurski and Ebbert 2003), size Timi and Lanfranchi 2006), mobility (Webber et al 1989) or behaviour (Karvonen et al 2004). There are also extrinsic factors that can influence an individual's risk of parasitism, such as spatial distributionover both large (Buck et al 2005) and small scales (Poulin and Fitzgerald 1989;Grosholz 1994;Poulin and Mouritsen 2004)-or various features of its habitat (Jensen et al 2004;Ferreira et al 2005).…”