Abundance and Bloodfeeding Patterns of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in an Oak Woodland on the Eastern Slope of the Northern Coast Range of California

Abstract

The abundance and bloodfeeding patterns of mosquitoes was studied from 2008 to 2010 at an 18 ha. oak woodland in Lake County, CA. Host-seeking females were collected weekly from sunset to sunrise by paired dry-ice-baited CDC style traps, whereas resting females were aspirated from paired walk-in red boxes. Sequences of the COI gene amplified from bloodmeals from engorged resting females were used to identify the bloodmeal hosts. Aedes sierrensis (Ludlow) and Aedes increpitus Dyar complex mosquitoes were univoltine, although the timing of emergence and abundance varied temporally and seemed weather dependent. Abundance of both Anopheles franciscanus McCracken and Anopheles freeborni Aitken peaked in mid to late summer. Females of both genera bloodfed primarily on mule deer and black-tailed jackrabbits, and few fed on either dogs or humans that were consistently present within the woodland. In contrast, multivoltine Culex tarsalis Coquillett and Culex stigmatosoma Dyar were abundant throughout summer, especially from July to September. Both Culex species bloodfed on a wide variety of avian hosts, with most bloodmeals originating from California scrub-jay, wild turkey, oak titmouse, and house finch. Culex tarsalis fed on proportionately more mammals as summer progressed, peaking at 33% in September.

Host evolutionary history rather than avian functional traits drives the Plasmodium regional assembly in the Atlantic Forest

“…Minor differences in temperature seasonality contributed to a high Plasmodium lineage turnover; however, localities with low temperature seasonality throughout the year occur mainly in the low latitudes (Figure 1), with annual temperatures that presumably do not affect Plasmodium sporogony (Santiago‐Alarcon et al, 2012). On the other hand, Culicidae mosquitoes are known to be affected by climate and landscape as well (Abella‐Medrano et al, 2015), as, for example, localities with stable climate tend to support stable mosquito communities (Guedes & Navarro‐Silva, 2014), whereas localities with high seasonality are prone to fluctuations in mosquito species abundance (Thiemann et al, 2017). Mosquito communities are also determined by land cover, with differences in mosquito diversity usually found along anthropization gradients (Ferraguti et al, 2016).…”

“…On the other hand, Culicidae mosquitoes are known to be affected by climate and landscape as well (Abella-Medrano et al, 2015), as, for example, localities with stable climate tend to support stable mosquito communities (Guedes & Navarro-Silva, 2014), whereas localities with high seasonality are prone to fluctuations in mosquito species abundance (Thiemann et al, 2017). Mosquito communities are also determined by land cover, with differences in mosquito diversity usually found along anthropization gradients 2).…”

Susceptibility and barriers to infection of Colorado mosquitoes with Rift Valley fever virus

“…Ae . increpitus mosquitoes have exhibited blood-host preferences including a large proportion of mule deer [ 39 ], and may still make a contribution to RVFV maintenance in the United States.…”

Ecological drivers of dog heartworm transmission in California

“…albopictus - D. immitis identified in field-collected adults in FL [ 46 ], GA [ 47 ], LA [ 48 ], NC [ 17 ], and OK [ 16 ] - Low and high (strain-specific) vector competence found in lab and field studies [ 17 , 49 – 51 ] - Species presence negatively associated with dog heartworm transmission in US [ 25 ] Found only in the Klamath and South Coast bioregion and at low abundance Moderate to high rates of dog-biting in Eastern and Midwestern US [ 52 – 55 ], but unknown in CA Ae. sierrensis - D. immitis infection in field-collected adults have been found at both low and high rates in Northern and Southern CA [ 56 – 58 ] - Species presence positively associated with dog heartworm transmission in Northern CA [ 59 ] and US [ 25 ] Found in nearly all bioregions but at relatively low abundance Low to moderate rates of dog-biting on field-collected and experimental adults in CA [ 56 , 60 – 62 ] Ae. vexans - Prevalence of D. immitis in field-collected individuals was found to be high in Northern CA, AR, and MN [ 56 , 63 , 64 ], and moderate in Southern CA [ 65 ] - High vector competence found in laboratory studies using adults from MN [ 66 ] Found in nearly all bioregions, at low to moderate abundance High rates of dog-biting in experimental populations in CA [ 56 ] and field-collected populations in WI [ 67 ] An.…”