A comparative study of predation of three aquatic heteropteran bugs on Culex quinquefasciatus larvae

Abstract

The aquatic bugs Anisops bouvieri Kirkaldy 1704 (Heteroptera: Notonectidae), Diplonychus (=Sphaerode-ma) rusticus Fabricius 1781, and Diplonychus annulatus Fabricius 1781 (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) are common members of the freshwater insect communities of the East Calcutta Wetlands along the eastern fringe of Kolkata, India. These insects are established predators of dipteran larvae and other organisms. A comparative account of their predatory effi ciency was made using larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823 in the laboratory. It was revealed that a single adult of A. bouvieri could consume 2-34 fourthinstar mosquito larvae per day, D. rusticus 11-87 fourthinstar mosquito larvae per day, and D. annulatus 33-122 fourth-instar mosquito larvae per day, depending upon the prey and predator densities. The mean predation rate of A. bouvieri and D. annulatus remained stable over a 6-day feeding period but varied for D. rusticus. The predatory impact (PI) values were 14.77-17.31, 46.9-55.73, and 61.74-72.72 larvae/day for A. bouvieri, D. rusticus, and D. annulatus, respectively. Compared to these, the clearance rate (CR) value range was 9. 06-13.25 for A. bouvieri, 13.64-15.99 for D. rusticus, and 13.50-16.52 larvae l/day/predator for D. annulatus. The values of mutual interference, "m," remained 0.06-0.78 for A. bouvieri, 0.003-0.25 for D. rusticus, and 0.09-0.27 for D. annulatus, and did not vary between the days. The difference in predatory effi ciency, CR, and PI values varied signifi cantly among the three predators, indicating the possible difference in the function as predators occupying the same guild. It can be assumed that these predators play an important role in larval population regulation of mosquitoes and thereby impart an effect on species composition and interactions in the aquatic insect communities of the wetlands and other similar habitats where they occur.

Predators of <I>Anopheles gambiae</I> sensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) Larvae in Wetlands, Western Kenya: Confirmation by Polymerase Chain Reaction Method

“…arabiensis DNA (Table 1). Although it has been suggested that Belostomatidae are important mosquito predators (Saha et al 2007, 2010), this family was found to have the lowest positive rates of the Hemiptera included in our study. A previous serological study (Service 1977) also showed that the positive rate in Belostomatidae (genus Sphaerodema ) was lower than for other Hemipteran species.…”

Aquatic Hemiptera community structure in stormwater retention ponds: a watershed land cover approach

“…Both herbivorous (most Corixidae) and carnivorous (Notonectidae, Belostomatidae, Nepidae, Pleidae), these bugs have considerable influence on aquatic food webs, feeding on zooplankton, insects, and small vertebrates, and serving as prey for large insects and fish (e.g., Murdoch et al, 1984;Hickley et al, 1994;Blaustein, 1998;Gilbert & Burns, 1999;Hampton et al, 2000). Additionally, the economic importance of at least three of these families as biological control agents of disease-carrying mosquitos is well established (Nam et al, 2000;Saha et al, 2007, reviewed in Papacek, 2001. Notonectids, in particular, have been shown to prey preferentially on mosquito larvae, drive mosquitoes to local extinction (Murdoch et al, 1984), and even deter oviposition behavior in gravid mosquitoes, including Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector of human malaria (Blaustein et al, 2005;Munga et al, 2006).…”

Predators ofAnopheles gambiaesensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) Larvae in Wetlands, Western Kenya: Confirmation by Polymerase Chain Reaction Method

“…arabiensis DNA (Table 1). Although it has been suggested that Belostomatidae are important mosquito predators (Saha et al 2007(Saha et al , 2010, this family was found to have the lowest positive rates of the Hemiptera included in our study. A previous serological study (Service 1977) also showed that the positive rate in Belostomatidae (genus Sphaerodema) was lower than for other Hemipteran species.…”