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Fish microbiota repel ovipositing mosquitoes.
- Source :
-
Journal of Animal Ecology . May2024, Vol. 93 Issue 5, p599-605. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- The mere presence of predators causes prey organisms to display predationâavoidance strategies. Predator presence is often communicated through predatorâreleased chemical signals. Ovipositing female mosquitoes of several species are repelled by unknown signals released from larvivorous fish.It was previously suggested that in many cases, a predator's microbiota plays an important role in the release of these signals; however, this mechanism is still poorly understood.In this study, we looked into the effects of the microbiota originating from the larvivorous Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard) on the oviposition behaviour of gravid female mosquitoes. We used fish with altered microbiota and bacterial isolates in a set of outdoor mesocosm experiments to address this aim.We show that interference with the fish microbiota significantly reduces fish's repellent effect. We further show that the bacterium Pantoea pleuroti, isolated from the skin of the fish, repels oviposition of Culex laticinctus Edwards and Culiseta longiareolata Macquart mosquitoes similarly to the way in which live fish repel them.Our results highlight the importance of bacteria in the interspecies interactions of their hosts. Furthermore, this finding may lead to the development of an ecologically friendly mosquito repellent, that may reduce the use of larvivorous fish for mosquito control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *MOSQUITOES
*FISH skin
*MOSQUITO control
*PREDATION
*CULEX
*OVIPARITY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00218790
- Volume :
- 93
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Animal Ecology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177114468
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14068