Thermal experiments with the Asian bush mosquito (Aedes japonicus japonicus) (Diptera: Culicidae) and implications for its distribution in Germany

Abstract

BackgroundAs ectothermic animals, temperature influences insects in almost every aspect. The potential disease spreading Asian bush mosquito (Aedes japonicus japonicus) is native to temperate East Asia but invasive in several parts of the world. We report on the previously poorly understood temperature-dependence of its life history under laboratory conditions to understand invasion processes and to model temperature niches.ResultsTo evaluate winter survival, eggs were exposed between 1 day and 14 days to low temperatures (5 °C, 0 °C, -5 °C and -9 °C). Hatching success was drastically decreased after exposure to 0 °C and -5 °C, and the minimal hatching success of 0% was reached at -9 °C after two days. We then exposed larvae to 14 temperatures and assessed their life trait parameters. Larval survival to adulthood was only possible between 10 °C and 31 °C. Based on this, we modelled the optimal (25 °C), minimal (7 °C) and maximal (31 °C) temperature for cumulative female survival. The time to adult emergence ranges from 12 days to 58 days depending on temperature. We used an age-at-emergence-temperature model to calculate the number of potential generations per year for the Asian bush mosquito in Germany with an average of 4.72 potential generations. At lower temperatures, individuals grew larger than at higher temperatures with female R1 length ranging from 3.04 ± 0.1 mm at 31 °C to 4.26 ± 0.2 mm at 15 °C.ConclusionsReduced egg hatch after exposure to sub-zero temperatures prohibits the establishment of the Asian bush mosquito in large parts of Germany. Larval overwintering is not possible at temperature ≤ 5 °C. The many potential generations displayed per year may contribute to the species’ invasion success. This study on the thermal ecology of the Asian bush mosquito adds to our knowledge on the temperature dependence of the species and data could be incorporated in epidemiological and population dynamic modelling.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2659-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Global occurrence data improve potential distribution models for Aedes japonicus japonicus in non‐native regions

“…However, low temperatures can remain a limiting factor for the species, because, for example, eggs can no longer survive below a certain threshold value (see e.g. Reuss et al 44 ). On the other hand, high temperatures can also become a limiting factor.…”

Dynamics and Distribution of the Invasive Mosquito Aedes koreicus in a Temperate European City

“…koreicus density over the whole city. This kind of model has been widely used to investigate mosquito dynamics, also within an epidemiological framework [22][23][24][25], and is usually temperature-dependent as this abiotic factor plays a key role at shaping mosquito survival and development [21,[26][27][28].…”

Can data from native mosquitoes support determining invasive species habitats? Modelling the climatic niche of Aedes japonicus japonicus (Diptera, Culicidae) in Germany

“…However, it was also found in subtropical and tropical climates such as Florida and Hawaii (Egizi and Fonseca 2015;Riles et al 2017). The eggs of this species are desiccation and frost resistant (Reuss et al 2018) and are laid by the females in rock pools of rivers, water-filled tree holes or various kinds of small artificial containers that are able to collect water such as flower pots or vases, buckets, ash trays and bird baths (Tanaka et al 1979;Scott 2003;Kampen et al 2012;Kaufman et al 2012). Egg hatching and larval development in spring begin at 4-5°C, and development time decreases significantly with temperatures rising up to 28°C (Scott 2003;Burger and Davis 2008;Kampen et al 2016a).…”

“…Temperatures above 34°C inhibit larval development (Scott 2003). The species usually overwinters in the egg stage, but in warmer regions, it is also possible and observed to hibernate in the larval stage (Reuss et al 2018;Bova et al 2019). Immature stages are usually found both sooner in spring and later in autumn than coexisting mosquito species (Iriarte et al 1991;Burger and Davis 2008;Kaufman and Fonseca 2014).…”