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      Diet and density dependent competition affect larval performance and oviposition site selection in the mosquito species Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

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          Abstract

          Background

          Oviposition-site choice is an essential component of the life history of all mosquito species. According to the oviposition-preference offspring-performance (P-P) hypothesis, if optimizing offspring performance and fitness ensures high overall reproductive fitness for a given species, the female should accurately assess details of the heterogeneous environment and lay her eggs preferentially in sites with conditions more suitable to offspring.

          Methods

          We empirically tested the P-P hypothesis using the mosquito species Aedes albopictus by artificially manipulating two habitat conditions: diet (measured as mg of food added to a container) and conspecific density (CD; number of pre-existing larvae of the same species). Immature development (larval mortality, development time to pupation and time to emergence) and fitness (measured as wing length) were monitored from first instar through adult emergence using a factorial experimental design over two ascending gradients of diet (2.0, 3.6, 7.2 and 20 mg food/300 ml water) and CD (0, 20, 40 and 80 larvae/300 ml water). Treatments that exerted the most contrasting values of larval performance were recreated in a second experiment consisting of single-female oviposition site selection assay.

          Results

          Development time decreased as food concentration increased, except from 7.2 mg to 20.0 mg (Two-Way CR ANOVA Post-Hoc test, P > 0.1). Development time decreased also as conspecific density increased from zero to 80 larvae (Two-Way CR ANOVA Post-Hoc test, P < 0.5). Combined, these results support the role of density-dependent competition for resources as a limiting factor for mosquito larval performance. Oviposition assays indicated that female mosquitoes select for larval habitats with conspecifics and that larval density was more important than diet in driving selection for oviposition sites.

          Conclusions

          This study supports predictions of the P-P hypothesis and provides a mechanistic understanding of the underlying factors driving mosquito oviposition site selection.

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          Most cited references33

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          Chemical ecology and behavioral aspects of mosquito oviposition.

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            Metabolic relationship between female body size, reserves, and fecundity of Aedes aegypti

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              Flavivirus susceptibility in Aedes aegypti.

              Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of yellow fever (YF) and dengue fever (DF) flaviviruses worldwide. In this review we focus on past and present research on genetic components and environmental factors in Aedes aegypti that appear to control flavivirus transmission. We review genetic relationships among Ae. aegypti populations throughout the world and discuss how variation in vector competence is correlated with overall genetic differences among populations. We describe current research into how genetic and environmental factors jointly affect distribution of vector competence in natural populations. Based on this information, we propose a population genetic model for vector competence and discuss our recent progress in testing this model. We end with a discussion of approaches being taken to identify the genes that may control flavivirus susceptibility in Ae. aegypti.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Parasit Vectors
                Parasit Vectors
                Parasites & Vectors
                BioMed Central
                1756-3305
                2012
                8 October 2012
                : 5
                : 225
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Emory University, Georgia, Atlanta, USA
                [2 ]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA
                [3 ]James Cook University, Cairns, Australia
                [4 ]Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
                [5 ]Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
                Article
                1756-3305-5-225
                10.1186/1756-3305-5-225
                3481443
                23044004
                75d309f7-da98-4c0f-b095-365c4b719a79
                Copyright ©2012 Yoshioka et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 19 June 2012
                : 20 September 2012
                Categories
                Research

                Parasitology
                conspecific density,diet,habitat selection,oviposition,mosquito
                Parasitology
                conspecific density, diet, habitat selection, oviposition, mosquito

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