Life Sciences Commons^™

Plant Extract Efficacy On Mosquito Mortality: Preliminary Studies On The Effect Of Ailanthus Altissima Extract On Adult Aedes Aegypti And Culex Quinquefasciatus, John R. Wallace, Calen D. Wylie, Ryan L. Wagner

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Abstract

Due to the negative environmental impact and resistance to synthetic insecticides, the development of biological control has increased significantly over the past half century with the potential of plant extracts only recently attracting attention. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the potential of Ailanthus altissima extract as a botanical insecticide on adult mosquitoes. Two species of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus) and a non-target lepidopteran species, Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) were treated with A. altissima extract from new, mature, and senesced leaflets using serial dilutions (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%) …

Temperatures Influence Susceptibility To Insecticides In Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes, Wendy S. Salinas, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, Christopher Vitek

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) are vectors for several arboviruses, including dengue, Zika virus and chikungunya virus. The primary method of controlling these diseases is controlling the vector population, often with insecticides. Insecticide resistance may impact the success of these efforts. We tested the effect of variable temperature exposures on susceptibility to insecticides by exposing adult A. aegypti and A. albopictus to different temperatures and tested their susceptibility to insecticides. We hypothesized that adults maintained at high temperatures would show increased susceptibility to insecticides relative to lower temperatures. Colony mosquitoes were hatched, reared to adulthood and then maintained …

Mosquito Distribution And Stoichiometric Analysis Between Open And Closed Canopies In New Orleans Cemeteries, Rachel Rogers

LSU Master's Theses

Cemetery vases represent an important container habitat for mosquito larvae. Some species, like, Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, prefer container habitats, whereas others, like Culex quinquefasciatus, will opportunistically use containers. In New Orleans, these three medically important vector species (Ae. albopictus Ae. aegypti, and Cx. quinquefasciatus) co-occur, despite a demonstrated competitive advantage of Ae. albopictus to the other two. Here we test the hypothesis that canopy cover from trees could be a mediating factor in driving mosquito assemblages in New Orleans, by influencing food sources, and the microclimate experienced by mosquito larvae. Samples from seven …

A Method For Repeated, Longitudinal Sampling Of Individual Aedes Aegypti For Transmission Potential Of Arboviruses, E. Handly Mayton, Heather Hernandez, Christopher Vitek, Rebecca C. Christofferson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mosquito-borne viruses are the cause of significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Assessing risk for viral transmission often involves characterization of the vector competence of vector–virus pairings. The most common determination of vector competence uses discreet, terminal time points, which cannot be used to investigate variation in transmission aspects, such as biting behavior, over time. Here, we present a novel method to longitudinally measure individual biting behavior and Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission. Individual mosquitoes were exposed to ZIKV, and from 9 to 24 days post-exposure, individuals were each offered a 180 μL bloodmeal every other …

Stage-Specific Action Of Juvenile Hormone Analogs, Ramaseshadri Parthasarathy, Subba Reddy Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

The discovery of juvenile hormones (JH) and their synthetic analogs (JHA) generated excitement and hope that these compounds will replace first- and second-generation insecticides that have not so desirable environmental and human safety profiles. However, JHAs used commercially during the past four decades did not meet these expectations. The recent availability of advanced molecular and histological methods and the discovery of key players involved in JH action provided some insights into the functioning of JHA in a stage and species-specific manner. In this review, we will summarize recent findings and stage-specific action of JHA, focusing on three commercially used JHA, …

Temporal And Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns Of Urban Mosquitoes In The San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico, Matthew W. Hopken, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Nicole Scavo, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Zaid Abdo, Daniel Taylor, James Pierce, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

Urban ecosystems are a patchwork of habitats that host a broad diversity of animal species. Insects comprise a large portion of urban biodiversity which includes many pest species, including those that transmit pathogens. Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) inhabit urban environments and rely on sympatric vertebrate species to complete their life cycles, and in this process transmit pathogens to animals and humans. Given that mosquitoes feed upon vertebrates, they can also act as efficient samplers that facilitate detection of vertebrate species that utilize urban ecosystems. In this study, we analyzed DNA extracted from mosquito blood meals collected temporally in multiple neighborhoods of …

Lower Socioeconomic Status Neighborhoods In Puerto Rico Have More Diverse Mosquito Communities And Higher Aedes Aegypti Abundance, Nicole A. Scavo, Roberto Barrera, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

Mosquito community dynamics in urban areas are influenced by an array of both social and ecological factors. Human socioeconomic factors (SEF) can be related to mosquito abundance and diversity as urban mosquito development sites are modified by varying human activity, e.g., level of abandoned structures or amount of accumulated trash. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationships among mosquito diversity, populations of Aedes aegypti, and SEF in a tropical urban setting. Mosquitoes were collected using BG Sentinel 2 traps and CDC light traps during three periods between late 2018 and early 2019 in San Juan, Puerto …

Indiscriminate Ingestion Of Entomopathogenic Nematodes And Their Symbiotic Bacteria By Aedes Aegypti Larvae: A Novel Strategy To Control The Vector Of Chikungunya, Dengue And Yellow Fever., Farooq A. Shah, Mostafa M. Abdoarrahem, Colin Berry, Mustapha Touray, Selçuk Hazir, Tariq M. Butt

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Third and fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti actively ingested entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and their symbiotic bacteria, resulting in larval mortality. All six EPN species evaluated in this study were pathogenic to Ae. aegypti but varied significantly in their virulence. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema carpocapsae were most virulent, H. megidis and S. kraussei showed the least virulence, whereas H. downesi and S. feltiae had intermediate virulence. Larval mortality was dose dependent for all EPN species. When using a dose of 100 infective juveniles (IJs) per larva, H. bacteriophora and S. carpocapsae caused 90%-100% mortality, whereas H. downesi and S. feltiae …

Temporal And Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns Of Urban Mosquitoes In The San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico, Matthew W. Hopken, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Nicole Scavo, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Zaid Abdo, Daniel Taylor, James Pierce, Donald A. Yee

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Simple Summary: Understanding the biodiversity of urban ecosystems is critical for management of invasive and pest species, conserving native species, and disease control. Mosquitoes (Culicidae) are ubiquitous and abundant in urban ecosystems, and rely on blood meals taken from vertebrates. We used DNA from freshly blood-fed mosquitoes to characterize the diversity of vertebrate host species in the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico. We collected two mosquito species that fed on a variety of vertebrates. Culex quinquefasciatus fed on 17 avian taxa (81.2% of blood meals), seven mammalian taxa (17.9%), and one reptilian taxon (0.85%). Aedes aegypti blood meals were …