Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT 06504, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2012 Mar;49(2):277-85. doi: 10.1603/me11050.
The spread of exotic mosquito species into new environments can introduce shifts in mosquito populations and potentially alter public health risks to mosquito-borne diseases. The successful establishment of exotic species may occur due to their competitive advantage over other cohabitating species. We hypothesized that the recently introduced exotic mosquito Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald) would be a more effective competitor than Aedes atropalpus (Coquillett) and Aedes triseriatus (Say), and an equal competitor to Culex pipiens (L.) based on larval abundance data within tire habitats. Impacts of competition were measured using the larval developmental rate and survival of larvae, adult mortality, wing length, and sex ratio. We found that intraspecific competition acted strongest against Ae. japonicus versus the other three resident mosquito species by delaying larval development and increasing adult mortality. Interspecific competition was generally weak and significant main effects were only detected for species and density. Overall, our results show that larval competition between Ae. japonicus and the three resident species was weak when present, indicating that other ecological or behavioral factors may be influencing the invasion success for Ae. japonicus in North America.
外来蚊子物种扩散到新环境中可能会导致蚊子种群的变化，并可能改变蚊子传播疾病的公共健康风险。外来物种的成功建立可能是由于它们相对于其他共存物种具有竞争优势。我们假设，最近引入的外来蚊子白纹伊蚊（Theobald）将比 Aedes atropalpus（Coquillett）和 Aedes triseriatus（Say）更具竞争力，并且与 Culex pipiens（L.）竞争能力相当基于轮胎栖息地内幼虫丰度数据。使用幼虫发育率和幼虫存活率、成虫死亡率、翅长和性别比例来衡量竞争的影响。我们发现，种内竞争对白纹伊蚊与其他三种本地蚊子物种的影响最大，导致幼虫发育延迟和成虫死亡率增加。种间竞争通常较弱，仅在物种和密度方面检测到显著的主要效应。总的来说，我们的结果表明，当白纹伊蚊与三种本地物种共存时，幼虫竞争较弱，这表明其他生态或行为因素可能会影响白纹伊蚊在北美的入侵成功。
