Yee Donald A, Nelsen Joseph A, Fijman Nicole S, Reyes-Torres Limarie J, Everly Jaclyn, Eastmond Bradley, Alto Barry W
School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406, USA.
Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL, 32962, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2025 Mar 17;62(2):347-357. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjae154.
Competition between mosquito species during the larval phase is a well-established mechanism structuring container mosquito communities, with invasive species often outperforming natives. We assessed the competitive outcome between 2 species that occur on the island of Puerto Rico, the historic invasive Aedes aegypti (L.) and the endemic Aedes mediovittatus (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae). Trials were conducted under intra- and interspecific densities crossed with 2 amounts of 4 different leaf types serving as detrital resources for developing larvae; leaf types were representative of either urban or rural locations. Response variables included survival, male and female mass and development time, and a composite index of population growth (λ'). We also measured tannin levels in detrital environments, a secondary metabolite that can negatively influence mosquito development and survival. The co-occurrence of Ae. aegypti and Ae. mediovittatus generally did not affect survival or population growth of Ae. mediovittatus, however the converse was not true. Specifically, Ae. aegypti suffered lower survival and lower population growth in the presence of Ae. mediovittatus compared to when it was alone. Tannin concentrations did not correspond to competitive outcomes, as the highest tannin levels occurred under the detrital conditions where mosquitoes had highest growth and survival, with no evidence of differences between urban or rural leaf types. This is the first study to quantify the competitive outcomes between these species, both of which are part of the dengue transmission cycle on the island, and our findings suggest that Ae. mediovittatus is capable of outcompeting Ae. aegypti under some resource environments.
蚊虫幼虫阶段的种间竞争是构建容器栖息蚊虫群落的一种既定机制，入侵物种通常比本地物种表现更优。我们评估了波多黎各岛上出现的两种蚊虫之间的竞争结果，即历史悠久的入侵物种埃及伊蚊（Aedes aegypti (L.)）和本地物种中带伊蚊（Aedes mediovittatus (Coquillett)）（双翅目：蚊科）。试验在种内和种间密度条件下进行，与4种不同叶型的两种数量交叉设置，这些叶型作为发育中幼虫的碎屑资源；叶型代表城市或农村环境。响应变量包括存活率、雌雄个体质量和发育时间，以及种群增长综合指数（λ'）。我们还测量了碎屑环境中的单宁水平，单宁是一种次生代谢产物，会对蚊虫发育和存活产生负面影响。埃及伊蚊和中带伊蚊的共存通常不会影响中带伊蚊的存活或种群增长，然而反之则不然。具体而言，与单独存在时相比，在有中带伊蚊的情况下，埃及伊蚊的存活率和种群增长率较低。单宁浓度与竞争结果不对应，因为在蚊虫生长和存活最高的碎屑条件下，单宁水平最高，但没有证据表明城市或农村叶型之间存在差异。这是第一项量化这两种蚊虫竞争结果的研究，它们都是该岛登革热传播循环的一部分，我们的研究结果表明，在某些资源环境下，中带伊蚊能够胜过埃及伊蚊。
