Burkett-Cadena Nathan D, Bingham Andrea M, Porterfield Christopher, Unnasch Thomas R
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, AL 36849; Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, U.S.A.; Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, FL 32611, U.S.A..
J Vector Ecol. 2014 Jun;39(1):21-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1948-7134.2014.12066.x.
The amplification of mosquito-borne pathogens is driven by patterns of host use by vectors. While each mosquito species is innately adapted to feed upon a particular group of hosts, this "preference" is difficult to assess in field-based studies, because factors such as host defenses and spatial and temporal overlap of mosquitoes and hosts affect which host animals actually get bitten. Here we examined patterns of host use by mosquitoes feeding on caged raptors at a rehabilitation and education center for birds of prey in Alabama, U.S.A. PCR-based techniques were used to determine the host species fed upon. Of 19 raptor species at the facility, seven were found to be fed upon by mosquitoes. Feeding indices and linear regression indicated that no species or family of raptor were significantly preferred over another (R(2)=0.46). Relative abundance adjusted for bird size explained a statistically significant amount of the variation in relative host use (R(2)=0.71), suggesting that bird size is an important component of host selection by mosquitoes. These findings support the hypothesis that traits of host animals drive patterns of host use by mosquitoes in nature, an interaction that leads to amplification of mosquito-borne viruses.
蚊媒病原体的扩增是由病媒对宿主的利用模式驱动的。虽然每种蚊子天生就适应以特定的宿主群体为食，但在基于实地的研究中，这种“偏好”很难评估，因为宿主防御以及蚊子与宿主的时空重叠等因素会影响哪些宿主动物实际被叮咬。在这里，我们在美国阿拉巴马州一个猛禽康复和教育中心研究了以笼养猛禽为食的蚊子对宿主的利用模式。基于聚合酶链式反应（PCR）的技术被用于确定蚊子所吸食的宿主物种。在该设施中的19种猛禽中，有7种被发现被蚊子吸食。摄食指数和线性回归表明，没有哪种猛禽物种或猛禽科被蚊子显著偏好（R² = 0.46）。根据鸟类体型调整后的相对丰度解释了相对宿主利用中具有统计学意义的大量变异（R² = 0.71），这表明鸟类体型是蚊子选择宿主的一个重要因素。这些发现支持了这样一种假设，即宿主动物的特征驱动了自然界中蚊子对宿主的利用模式，这种相互作用导致了蚊媒病毒的扩增。
