Differential performance and stable isotopic ratios of three co-occurring container mosquitoes across different detritus ratios

Detrital inputs form the main food source for container-inhabiting mosquitoes. These inputs, constantly exploited by mosquito species, particularly in the Culex and Aedes genera, may impact community structure if species differ in their ability to exploit them. Our hypothesis was that foraging behavior of different mosquito genera affect performance of adults across detritus ratios. We examined the larval development time, survival, and adult mass for three co-occurring container mosquito species (Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus), across different ratios of animal and leaf detritus. We also quantified the contribution of detritus to biomass using stable isotope analysis. Development time was shorter, with higher adult mass for A. albopictus and A. aegypti in ratios with animal detritus. For C. quinquefasciatus, only adult mass was affected by detritus ratios. Survival was similar across detritus types for Aedes but decreased with increasing leaf detritus for C. quinquefasciatus. All species had lower values of 15N and 13C in leaf only detritus. However, A. albopictus had the lowest nitrogen in tissue and thus seemed to be more competent at obtaining potentially limiting resources. These findings provide support that mosquito adult performance can be influenced by larval foraging behavior across detritus types; future studies will investigate how differences in isotopic signatures may explain the competitive outcomes among container mosquitoes.

Keywords: Container system, foraging behavior, 15N, detritus, 13C.