Adult damselflies as possible regulators of mosquito populations in urban areas

Abstract

BACKGROUND Dragonfly and damselfly larvae have been considered as possible biocontrol agents against young instars of mosquito vectors in urban environments. Yet our knowledge about adult odonate predation against mosquito adults is scarce. We quantified daily and annual predation rates, consumption rates and prey preferences of adult Hetaerina vulnerata male damselflies in an urban park. A focus on predation of mosquito species was provided, quantified their arbovirus (dengue, chikungunya and Zika) infection rates and biting activity. RESULTS Foraging times of H. vulnerata overlapped with those of the maximum activity of hematophagous mosquitoes. The most consumed preys were Diptera and Hymenoptera and, in lower quantities, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Psocoptera and Neuroptera. Of note, 7% of the diet was represented by hematophagous dipterans, with 2.4% being Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Prey abundance in the diet coincided with that of the same species in the environment. The arboviral infection rate (dengue, chikungunya and Zika) was 1.6% for A. aegypti and A. albopictus. The total biting rate of these mosquito vectors was 16 bites per person per day, while the annual rate of infectious bites was 93.4. CONCLUSION Although 2.4% for both Aedes species seems a low consumption, considering the presence of 12 odonate species at the park, it can be argued that adult odonates may play a relevant role as mosquito vector regulators, therefore impacting the spread of mosquito‐borne diseases. Our study outlines the need for further research on the topic of the possible role of adult odonates for mosquito biocontrol. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Stable gullies provide a suitable habitat for functional insects and reduce the threat of pests on crops in farmland of Northeast China

“…Notably, the control of pests and diseases in farmland by BI has been valued at over $400 billion annually worldwide (Costanza et al., 1997 ; Redhead et al., 2020 ). This also indirectly reduces the dosage application of pesticides, and further decreases environmental pollution (Cordoba‐Aguilar et al., 2021 ; Huang et al., 2020 ; Lyu et al., 2023 ). However, many reports indicated that the insects' abundance, especially the BI, was typically declining (Brooks et al., 2012 ; Ollerton et al., 2014 ; Powney et al., 2019 ), resulting in a decline of insect's service functions in the farmland (Oliver et al., 2015 ; Raven & Wagner, 2021 ).…”

Assessment of mosquitoes larvae and their predatory aquatic insects in Taksebt Dam, Algeria

“…According to Schrama et al (2018), insect predator presence decreased mosquito larval survival and adult emergence by 20-50%. Many aquatic insects of the orders Coleoptera (DeSiervo et al 2020), Diptera (Moirangthem et al 2018), Hemiptera (Allo and Mekhlif 2019) and Odonata (Córdoba-Aguilar et al 2021) are known to be mosquito predators, commonly found with the mosquito immature in varied mosquito larval habitats including the wetland (Kumar 2009;Shaalan and Canyon 2009).…”

Predatory efficiency of dragonfly nymphs, Crocothemis servilia and Rhyothemis variegata against the mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus Say

“…Despite this, the presence of other prey does not negatively affect the role of predators in controlling the population of mosquito larvae (Stav et al, 2005). Some aquatic bugs (Saha et al, 2007;Valbon et al, 2018Valbon et al, , 2019, larvivorous fishes (Das et al, 2018;Riaz et al, 2018), diving beetles (Choo et al, 2021;Lundkvist et al, 2003), and odonate nymphs (Córdoba-Aguilar et al, 2021;Cozzer et al, 2022;Samanmali et al, 2018) are among the natural predators that can help control the population of mosquito larvae. Odonate nymphs are voracious predators that use unique protractible labium to grab their prey, which includes mosquito larvae, various smaller aquatic invertebrates, and even larvae of fish and amphibians (Zia et al, 2011).…”

“…They have drawn attention to their application in environmentally friendly mosquito control because of their predatory role against mosquito larvae (Subramanian, 2018). To the best of our knowledge, limited research works have been carried out regarding the efficacy of odonate nymphs in mosquito control in the world (Córdoba-Aguilar et al, 2021;Cozzer et al, 2022;Riaz et al, 2018). In Bangladesh, 102 species of odonates including 57 species of dragonflies and 45 species of damselflies have been recorded so far (Shah & Khan, 2020).…”