{"title":"Competitive interactions with Aedes albopictus alter the nutrient content of Aedes aegypti","authors":"Hunter Deerman, Donald A. Yee","doi":"10.1111/mve.12675","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Competition is often cited as a central force that affects the distribution and performance of organisms. Ecological stoichiometry is the balance of elements within animal bodies that can be affected by resource acquisition and processing, as well as by intra- or interspecific interactions. Though relatively underexplored for mosquitoes, stoichiometry may provide a wealth of information linking ecological interactions to body nutrient content, and potentially on to pathogen transmission. Detritus, which often varies in nutrient content, forms the base of the food web within the small aquatic habitats occupied by larval mosquitoes, and detrital nutrient content can alter mosquito growth, survival, and population growth. The invasive mosquitoes <i>Aedes albopictus</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) and <i>Aedes aegypti</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) interact as larvae in aquatic systems, often altering their adult populations. Herein, we investigated how different detritus combinations as well as how intra- and interspecific densities of <i>Ae. albopictus</i> and <i>Ae. aegypti</i> would affect coexistence; we also measured how nutrient composition (carbon and nitrogen) and stoichiometry (C:N) of adults would vary with those interactions. <i>Ae. albopictus</i> survival, population growth, and stoichiometry were not affected by intra- or interspecific competition; nutrient values did vary with detritus ratios. However, <i>Ae. aegypti</i> nutrient content and stoichiometry and survival were negatively affected within the lowest nutrient environments in the presence of <i>Ae. albopictus</i>, but in the highest nutrient environments, both species showed high survival rates and population growth. This is the first study to show that adult mosquito body nutrients can be altered by interspecific interactions, and as nutrient content in adults has been linked to pathogen transmission, it provides a novel role of competition in affecting disease dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mve.12675","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Competition is often cited as a central force that affects the distribution and performance of organisms. Ecological stoichiometry is the balance of elements within animal bodies that can be affected by resource acquisition and processing, as well as by intra- or interspecific interactions. Though relatively underexplored for mosquitoes, stoichiometry may provide a wealth of information linking ecological interactions to body nutrient content, and potentially on to pathogen transmission. Detritus, which often varies in nutrient content, forms the base of the food web within the small aquatic habitats occupied by larval mosquitoes, and detrital nutrient content can alter mosquito growth, survival, and population growth. The invasive mosquitoes Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) interact as larvae in aquatic systems, often altering their adult populations. Herein, we investigated how different detritus combinations as well as how intra- and interspecific densities of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti would affect coexistence; we also measured how nutrient composition (carbon and nitrogen) and stoichiometry (C:N) of adults would vary with those interactions. Ae. albopictus survival, population growth, and stoichiometry were not affected by intra- or interspecific competition; nutrient values did vary with detritus ratios. However, Ae. aegypti nutrient content and stoichiometry and survival were negatively affected within the lowest nutrient environments in the presence of Ae. albopictus, but in the highest nutrient environments, both species showed high survival rates and population growth. This is the first study to show that adult mosquito body nutrients can be altered by interspecific interactions, and as nutrient content in adults has been linked to pathogen transmission, it provides a novel role of competition in affecting disease dynamics.
期刊介绍:
Medical and Veterinary Entomology is the leading periodical in its field. The Journal covers the biology and control of insects, ticks, mites and other arthropods of medical and veterinary importance. The main strengths of the Journal lie in the fields of:
-epidemiology and transmission of vector-borne pathogens
changes in vector distribution that have impact on the pathogen transmission-
arthropod behaviour and ecology-
novel, field evaluated, approaches to biological and chemical control methods-
host arthropod interactions.
Please note that we do not consider submissions in forensic entomology.