Biological control of mosquito larvae using naiad of ruddy marsh skimmer <i>Crocothemis servilia</i>

Pahari, Priti Ranjan; Chakrabortty, Debashis; Mandal, Biplab; Bhattacharya, Tanmay

doi:10.5958/0974-8172.2018.00330.9

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In particular, dragonflies/damselflies could be important biological mosquito control agents for conservation areas where chemical‐based mosquito control is threatening nontarget species and environmental safety. While we only studied the predation success of dragonfly/damselfly naiads on mosquito larvae, both the adult and naiad stages of dragonflies/damselflies feed upon other life stages of mosquitoes; for example, the naiads also feed on mosquitoes' eggs (Mukherjee & Blaustein, 2019) and pupae (Pahari et al, 2018; Sebastian et al, 1980), and the adult stages feed upon adult mosquitoes (Corbet, 1980). Therefore, future studies are needed to estimate the predation of different life stages of dragonflies/damselflies on different life stages of mosquitoes, especially under real‐world settings, to enable a more holistic understanding of the effectiveness of dragonfly/damselfly for mosquito control.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta‐analysis reveals that dragonflies and damselflies can provide effective biological control of mosquitoes

Priyadarshana

Slade

2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dragonfly/damselfly naiads have the potential to control mosquitoes, and indirectly the diseases they carry, due to their extensive predation on mosquito larvae. Experimental studies have measured the effectiveness of individual dragonfly/damselfly naiads in controlling mosquitoes by introducing them to mosquito larvae and counting the number of larvae eaten in a given time period (i.e. predation success). Without a quantitative synthesis, however, such individual measures are unable to provide a generalized estimation about the effectiveness of dragonflies/damselflies as biological mosquito control agents. To achieve this, we assembled a database containing 485 effect sizes across 31 studies on predation successes of 47 species of commonly found dragonfly/damselfly naiads on nine species of mosquito larvae belonging to Aedes, Anopheles and Culex. These studies covered 14 countries across Asia, Africa and South and North America, where mosquitoes are the vectors of Chikungunya, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, Lymphatic filariasis, Malaria, Rift Valley fever, West Nile fever, Yellow fever and Zika. Using this database, we conducted a meta‐analysis to estimate the average predation success per day by a single individual dragonfly/damselfly naiad on these mosquito larvae as a generalized measure of the effectiveness of dragonflies/damselflies for mosquito control. We also built an interaction network for predator‐dragonflies/damselflies and prey‐mosquitoes and the diseases they vector to understand the functioning of this important predator‐prey network. Our results showed that mosquito larvae were significantly reduced through predation by dragonfly/damselfly naiads. Within experimental containers, a single individual dragonfly/damselfly naiad can eat on average 40 (95% confidence intervals [CIs] = 20, 60) mosquito larvae per day, equivalent to a reduction of the mosquito larval population by 45% (95% CIs = 30%, 59%) per day. The average predation success did not significantly vary among Aedes, Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes or among the four (I–IV) mosquito larval stages. These results provide strong evidence that dragonflies/damselflies can be effective biological control agents of mosquitoes, and environmental planning to promote them could lower the risk of spreading mosquito‐borne diseases in an environmentally friendly and cost‐effective manner.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta‐analysis reveals that dragonflies and damselflies can provide effective biological control of mosquitoes

Priyadarshana

Slade

2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our results revealed that C. servilia exhibits maximum predatory potential against the 2 nd instar larvae over other instars and pupae which is compatible with a previous study showing that nymphs of C. servilia prefer to consume 2 nd instar larvae of Cx. quinquefasciatus over the other instars (Pahari et al, 2018). The form and movement of the prey might have an impact on the dragonfly's choice of prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rahman

Sharif

et al. 2022

Asian Australas. J. Biosci. Biotechnol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study compared the predatory potential of nymphs of two dragonfly species viz. Crocothemis servilia (Drury, 1773) and Rhyothemis variegata (Linnaeus, 1763) using the different larval instars and pupae of Cx. quinquefasciatus (Say, 1823) as preys in normal laboratory settings. Field-collected fed and 24 h starved nymphs of C. servilia and R. variegata were offered 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th instar larvae and pupae of Cx. quinquefasciatus to monitor the rate of predation. A 24 h starved nymph of C. servilia showed the highest predation on the 2nd instar larvae (92.00±4.06%) followed by the 3rd (83.00±5.61%), 4th (80±6.89%) and 1st (76.00±4.85%) instar larvae and the pupae (26.00±2.91), respectively, whereas, that of R. variegata exhibited the highest consumption of the 1st instar larvae (90.00±3.54 %) followed by the 2nd (88.00±5.61 %), 3rd (82.00±3.74 %), 4th (70.00±7.91 %) larval instar and the pupae (23.00±4.63), respectively within 24 h exposure. In the same period, the fed nymphs of C. servilia showed maximum consumption of the 2nd instar larvae (77.00±3.54%) followed by the 3rd (76.00±4.58%), 4th (64.00±4.00%) and 1st instar (55.00±3.53%) larvae and the pupae (24.00±3.67), respectively, whereas, that of R. variegata exhibited highest consumption of the 1st instar larvae (67.00±5.38 %) followed by the 2nd (65.00±10.12 %), 3rd (58.00±8.46 %) and 4th (53.00±4.06 %) instar larvae and the pupae (21.00±2.92), respectively. The rate of predation was significant on all the larval instars and the pupae compared to their control counterparts (p<0.05) and the starved larvae and nymphs of both the dragonfly species showed higher predation compared to the fed nymphs. The aforementioned findings suggest that nymphs of both of the dragonfly species exhibited considerable predation potential against the immature stages of the Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquito. The present study recommends assessing the feasibility of using these species in large-scale mosquito control programs.

show abstract

“…Relative abundance of alternative prey may also alter the consumption rate of the mosquito larvae 15,16 . In presence of alternative prey biocontrol potentiality of hemipteran bugs 17 and odonate naiads 18 decreased considerably. Therefore, presence of alternative prey poses an adverse effect on elimination of target prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on the Culex quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 Control Potentiality of Colisa fasciata (Bloch Schneider, 1801) in Laboratory Condition

Priti Ranjan Pahari,

Shubha Sankar Mandal,

Subhadeep Maiti

et al. 2021

IJPHRD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Colisa fasciata consumed significantly more Chironomus ramosus larvae as compared to Culex quinquefasciatus larvae and pupae when those were offered separately. In paired experiment it consumed significantly more C. ramosus larvae than C. quinquefasciatus larvae. When habitat was modified by incorporating sand and gravels on the floor of the aquarium, C. fasciata consumed significantly more C. quinquefasciatus larvae as compared to C. ramosus larvae. Chesson's food preference index also confirmed these findings. The larvicidal efficiency therefore not only depends on the availability of alternative prey but also on the micro-habitat condition.

show abstract

Biological control of mosquito larvae using naiad of ruddy marsh skimmer Crocothemis servilia

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

A meta‐analysis reveals that dragonflies and damselflies can provide effective biological control of mosquitoes

A meta‐analysis reveals that dragonflies and damselflies can provide effective biological control of mosquitoes

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

A Study on the Culex quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 Control Potentiality of Colisa fasciata (Bloch Schneider, 1801) in Laboratory Condition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About