The influence of larval density, food stress, and parasitism on the bionomics of the dengue vector Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): implications for integrated vector management

Mitchell-Foster, Kendra; Ma, Baocheng; Warsame-Ali, S.; Logan, C.; Rau, Manfred E.; Lowenberger, Carl

doi:10.1111/j.1948-7134.2012.00220.x

Cited by 27 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…aegypti and Ae. albopictus respectively) are comparable to those previously reported for these species (Mori , Reyes‐Villanueva and Rodriguez‐Perez , Farjana and Tuno , Mitchell‐Foster et al ) although mean number of eggs per female was lower than reported from two Ae. aegypti populations from Brazil (≈ 75, Madeira et al ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Oviposition byAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus: Influence of congeners and of oviposition site characteristics

Rey

O’Connell

2014

Journal of Vector Ecology

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We investigated the oviposition behavior of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. In particular we examined whether small-scale site characteristics and the presence of conspecifics or congeners altered oviposition by these mosquitoes. Various combinations of females of the two species were allowed to oviposit inside cages among either vegetation (potted plants) or structural components (wood and concrete blocks). Numbers of eggs deposited per female were compared between species, sides, and treatments. Most significant differences between treatments and species involved differences between single species and mixed species treatments. Ae. aegypti deposited more eggs/female in the vegetation side than in the structure side whereas the opposite pattern was evident for Ae. albopictus. Ae. aegypti females had higher frequency of skip oviposition than Ae. albopictus. An average of 63% of the containers in the two-species treatments contained eggs of both species, with more frequent joint occurrences observed in the treatment with three females of each species than in the treatments with one of each. Our results point to the existence of various interactions between gravid Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females at or near the oviposition sites but further experimental work is necessary to fully characterize the interactions and their specific mechanisms. Journal of Vector Ecology 39 (1): 190-196. 2014.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Oviposition byAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus: Influence of congeners and of oviposition site characteristics

Rey

O’Connell

2014

Journal of Vector Ecology

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“…Variables in the larval environment, such as: temperature, population density, nutritional availability, and the presence of toxins have been shown to have significant effects upon time of larval development, adult body size, nutritional stores, immunity, reproductive capability and most significantly vector capacity [ 23 - 32 ]. In studies by Mitchell-Foster [ 23 ] and Alto [ 23 ], Ae. aegypti and Culex pipiens larvae raised under reduced nutrient conditions had decreased adult size, reduced numbers of eggs and smaller egg size [ 23 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In studies by Mitchell-Foster [ 23 ] and Alto [ 23 ], Ae. aegypti and Culex pipiens larvae raised under reduced nutrient conditions had decreased adult size, reduced numbers of eggs and smaller egg size [ 23 , 26 ]. Other studies found the amount of food larvae were given affects the time spent in the pupal life stage [ 23 , 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small mosquitoes, large implications: crowding and starvation affects gene expression and nutrient accumulation in Aedes aegypti

et al. 2015

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BackgroundEnvironmental factors such as temperature, nutrient availability, and larval density determine the outcome of postembryonic development in mosquitoes. Suboptimal temperatures, crowding, and starvation during the larval phase reduce adult mosquito size, nutrient stores and affect vectorial capacity.MethodsIn this study we compared adult female Aedes aegypti, Rockefeller strain, raised under standard laboratory conditions (Large) with those raised under crowded and nutritionally deprived conditions (Small). To compare the gene expression and nutritional state of the major energy storage and metabolic organ, the fat body, we performed transcriptomics using Illumina based RNA-seq and metabolomics using GC/MS on females before and 24 hours following blood feeding.ResultsAnalysis of fat body gene expression between the experimental groups revealed a large number of significantly differentially expressed genes. Transcripts related to immunity, reproduction, autophagy, several metabolic pathways; including amino acid degradation and metabolism; and membrane transport were differentially expressed. Metabolite profiling identified 60 metabolites within the fat body to be significantly affected between small and large mosquitoes, with the majority of detected free amino acids at a higher level in small mosquitoes compared to large.ConclusionsGene expression and metabolites in the adult fat body reflect the individual post-embryonic developmental history of a mosquito larva. These changes affect nutritional storage and utilization, immunity, and reproduction. Therefore, it is apparent that changes in larval environment due to weather conditions, nutrition availability, vector control efforts, and other factors can affect adult vectorial capacity in the field.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0863-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Serpa et al [109] varied number of individuals but decreased both food and volume as the number of individuals increased. Mitchell-Foster et al [110] and Price et al [87] also increased density and decreased food at the same time. While none of these investigations contradicts the results of my experiments, none of them can be used as direct support because their designs do not allow the possibility of an interaction between food and density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adult females require a blood meal to mature eggs. The size of the adult female is directly related to the size of the pupa and reflects the competitive success of the larva; large females take larger blood meals, mature more and larger eggs, and live longer than small females [1,4,18,23,35,58,70,81,83,84,86,104,110,129,186,187], but see [35], and may be more effective disease vectors [88–91], but see [92–97,188] although this is likely a result of their robustness rather than a direct result of size selection. Larger eggs hatch into larger larvae and start their lives with an advantage [54].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition among Aedes aegypti larvae Kurt Steinwascher

Steinwascher

2018

Preprint

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Adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are important vectors of human disease. The size of the adult female affects her success, fitness, and ability to transmit diseases. The size of the adults is determined during the aquatic larval stage. Competition among larvae for food influences the size of the pupa and thus the adult. In these experiments, the food level (mg/larva) and the density (larvae/vial) both affect intraspecific competition, which shows up as the interaction of the two factors. Furthermore, the total food per vial affects the nature of competition among the larvae, also apparent in the interaction of food and density. Male larvae are affected by the percent of males in the vial, but females are not. Seven biologically significant dependent variables were examined, and the data analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance to gain insight into the relationships among the variables and the effects of these factors on the larvae as they grew in small containers. Male and female larvae compete differently from one another for the particulate yeast cells in this experiment; female larvae outcompete males through larger size and by retaining cells within their gut at low total food levels. Under conditions of more intense competition, the pupal masses of both males and females are smaller, so the effect of competition is a reduced apparent food level. The age at pupation is also affected by food and density. Across the twenty treatment combinations of food/larva and larvae/vial, female larvae grew as though there were six different ecological environments while male larvae grew as though there were only four different environments. No interference competition was observed. Eradication efforts aimed at adult populations of this mosquito may inadvertently increase the size and robustness of the next generation of larvae, resulting in a subsequent adult population increase in the second generation.

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The influence of larval density, food stress, and parasitism on the bionomics of the dengue vector Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): implications for integrated vector management

Cited by 27 publications

References 30 publications

Oviposition byAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus: Influence of congeners and of oviposition site characteristics

Oviposition byAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus: Influence of congeners and of oviposition site characteristics

Small mosquitoes, large implications: crowding and starvation affects gene expression and nutrient accumulation in Aedes aegypti

Competition among Aedes aegypti larvae Kurt Steinwascher

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