Life Sciences Commons^™

Quantifying Species Traits Related To Oviposition Behavior And Offspring Survival In Two Important Disease Vectors, Donald A. Yee, William C. Glasgow, Nnaemeka F. Ezeakacha

Faculty Publications

Animals with complex life cycles have traits related to oviposition and juvenile survival that can respond to environmental factors in similar or dissimilar ways. We examined the preference-performance hypothesis (PPH), which states that females lacking parental care select juvenile habitats that maximize fitness, for two ubiquitous mosquito species, Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus. Specifically, we examined if environmental factors known to affect larval abundance patterns in the field played a role in the PPH for these species. We first identified important environmental factors from a field survey that predicted larvae across different spatial scales. We then performed two experiments, …

Oviposition Preference And Offspring Performance In Container Breeding Mosquitoes: Evaluating The Effects Of Organic Compounds And Laboratory Colonisation, David W. Allgood, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

1. The preference–performance hypothesis (PPH) predicts that organisms lacking parental care should oviposit in habitats that optimise offspring performance. Preference–performance relationships were investigated for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus Skuse) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus Say) (Diptera: Culicidae), two medically important container-breeding species, in response to an organic chemical blend mimicking decaying plant matter. Additionally, the effects of long-term laboratory colonisation of Cx. quinquefasciatus using wild and laboratory strains were evaluated.

2. Oviposition bioassays were conducted by releasing gravid mosquitoes into field enclosures with automobile tires containing low and high concentrations of the chemical blend, …

Differences In Consumption Rates Between Juvenile And Adult Laccophilus Fasciatus Rufus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) On Larval Culex Quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae), Carmen E. Bofill

Honors Theses

With the increase of global temperature and human populations, prevalence of vector-borne diseases is becoming an issue for public health. Over the years these vectors have been notorious for developing resistance to human regulated insecticides. Thus, other forms of control, including the use of natural predators, have become an important topic in research. Research on member of the family of predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidae) and their predatory ability to decrease aquatic mosquito larvae populations has been of recent interest. The purpose of this study is to 1) quantify consumption rates of the dytiscid Laccophilus fasciatus rufus juvenile and adults on …