[Susceptibility of thirty-one species of mosquitoes to Romanomermis yunanensis].
A new species of Mermithidae was found parasitizing the larvae of Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Culex fatigans in Henan, China and then named Romanomermis yunanensis. Thirty-one species of Mosquitoes involving six genera have been tested for susceptibility to R. yunanensis and Culicinae mosquito have consistently been highly susceptible. At a 1:5 ratio of mosquito larvae to nematode juveniles, the parasitisms of Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus, Culex fatigans, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Anopheles sinensts, Psorophora columbiae and Culesta inornata were 98.2%, 98.5%, 98.6%, 97.1%, 0%, 98.8%, and 99.0% respectively. R. yunanensis presented a phenomenon of retarted development in Anopheles maculatus, which remained at the parasitic stage both in the larvae and pupa of An. maculatus. The parasitism of An. dirus was 89.7%, but most (88.8%) parasitizing mermithids underwent melanization and died. The comparative susceptibility of some North American mosquitoes to R. yunanesis and R. culicivorax at a 1:5 infective ratio showed that both percentage infection and intensity of infection statistically supported the generalization that, under laboratory conditions, R. yunanesis is a more vigorous and aggressive parasite of Culicinae.
Department of Parasitology, University of California, Riverside.
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Peng
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Platzer
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Song
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Peloquin
D000330:Aedes / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology; D003465:Culex / Q000469:parasitology*; D009033:Culicidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008632:Mermithoidea; D013045:Species Specificity