ARS | Publication request: SUSCEPTIBILITY OF AEDES AEGYPTI AND AEDES ALBOPICTUS LARVAE TO ASCOGREGARINA CULICIS AND ASCOGREGARINA TAIWANENSIS (APICOMPLEXA: LECUDINIDAE) FROM FLORIDA

Submitted to: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 11, 2003
Publication Date: October 30, 2003
Citation: Reyes-Villanueva, F., Becnel, J.J., Butler, J.F. 2003. Susceptibility of aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus larvae to ascogregarina culicis and ascogregarina taiwanensis (apicomplexa: lecudinidae) from florida. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 84:47-53.

Interpretive Summary: Naturally occurring protozoan parasites of insects are under study to evaluate and develop these disease causing organisms as biological control agents. Gregarine parasites are known to infect insects worldwide, but fundamental knowledge on their life cycles, modes of transmission and methods for identification is presently incomplete. This investigation examines gregarine infections in mosquitoes that are important vectors of dengue and yellow fever. New information obtained here contributes to our basic understanding of the parasites and will assist in determining the role of these gregarines in competitive interactions with their mosquito hosts.

Technical Abstract: The susceptibility of Aedes aegypti to Ascogregarina culicis and Ae. albopictus to A. taiwanensis was examined with mosquito and parasite strains from Tampa, FL. When each host was bioassayed with its natural gregarine, the infection intensity indicated that Ae. aegypti was 59% more susceptible to A. culicis (86.77 gamonts/larva) than Ae. albopictus to A. taiwanensis (46.78 gamonts/larva). Infections in single and mixed host populations exposed to 100 oocysts/larva of one and both parasites demonstrated that Ae. aegypti harbors higher A. culicis gamont loads than Ae. albopictus of A. taiwanensis. In dual gregarine exposures of single host populations, the A. culicis infection intensity in Ae. aegypti was reduced by ~ 50%. A. taiwanensis exhibited the same capability of infecting Ae. albopictus in single and dual exposures. In mixed host populations there were no cross infections, but A. taiwanensis in Ae. albopictus produced an infection intensity of ~ 70% lower than that of A. culicis in Ae. aegypti.