Host-feeding patterns of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) at a temperate North American site.
Precipitin tests and ELISA were used to investigate host-feeding patterns of 172 blood-fed Aedes albopictus (Skuse) collected at Potosi, MO, during the summers of 1989 and 1990. One hundred ten (64.0%) mosquitoes had fed on mammals, 29 (16.9%) on birds, and none on turtles or snakes. Thirty-three (19.2%) mosquitoes failed to react in all tests. Eighty-six (78.2%) of the 110 mammalian feeds were positive for lower taxa as follows: rabbit, 24.5%; deer, 14.5%; dog, 13.6%; human, 8.2%; squirrel, 7.3%; opossum, 4.5%; myomorph rodents other than Rattus, 3.6%; raccoon, 0.9%; and bovine, 0.9%. Positive feeds were not detected for the following mammals: cat (n = 99); horse (n = 95); Rattus (n = 84); and swine (n = 84). Fourteen (48.3%) of the 29 avian feeds were positive for lower taxa as follows: Passeriformes, 24.1%; Columbiformes, 17.2%; Ciconiiformes, 3.4%; and quail, 3.4%. These data, the first on host-feeding patterns for Ae. albopictus populations in the New World, indicate that Ae. albopictus is an opportunistic feeder that utilizes a wide variety of hosts and, therefore, has the potential to become involved in the transmission cycles of indigenous arboviruses.
Savage
H M
HM
Medical Entomology-Ecology Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Ft. Collins, CO 80522.
Niebylski
M L
ML
Smith
G C
GC
Mitchell
C J
CJ
Craig
G B
GB
D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D008322:Mammals; D008923:Missouri; D051381:Rats