Monday, December 11, 2006 - 9:23 AM
0412

Interactions of invasive Aedes albopictus with native North American predators

Banugopan Kesavaraju, bkesava@ilstu.edu, Kavitha Damal, kdamal@ilstu.edu, and Steven Juliano, sajulian@ilstu.edu. Illinois State University, Biology, Campus Box:4120, Normal, IL

Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito and a vector of arboviruses including dengue and west Nile. The predatory larvae of Corethrella appendiculata and Toxorhynchites rutilus co-occur with and feed on mosquito larvae like Ochlerotatus triseriatus, a native treehole mosquito, and A. albopictus. Previous studies have shown that 4th instar O. triseriatus alter their behavior, increasing the frequency of low-predation-risk behaviors in water that has held a feeding T. rutilus, but that A. albopictus does not. Second instar larvae of both prey species are more vulnerable to predation by C. appendiculata than are later stages. O. triseriatus 2nd instar larvae show a stronger response than A. albopictus 2nd instar in water that has held a feeding C. appendiculata. O. triseriatus 2nd and 4th instar larvae alter their behavior in water that has held a feeding C. appendiculata. We tested whether 2nd and 4th instar A. albopictus alter their behavior in water that has held a feeding C. appendiculata. We also tested whether abundances of C. appendiculata are correlated with abundances of O. triseriatus and A. albopictus in container habitats of South Florida. Second instar A. albopictus showed higher frequency of low-predation-risk behaviors in water that had held a feeding C. appendiculata than did 4th instars. Abundances of C. appendiculata were positively and negatively correlated with the abundances of O. triseriatus and A. albopictus, respectively. Thus, predation by C. appendiculata, may contribute to low abundances of A. albopictus, in areas where these predators are common.


Species 1: Diptera Culicidae Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito)
Species 2: Diptera Corethrellidae Corethrella appendiculata

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation