Sex-specific response of a mosquito to parasites and crowding.
Host-parasite interactions are significantly influenced by the sex of the host and the environment in which the host is found. Sex-specific responses to parasite infection, however, may change according to the host environment. I examine the combined effect of parasite infection and crowding on males and females of the mosquito Aedes albopictus. At a high larval density, infected males experienced a greater relative reduction in body size than did infected females, whereas the pattern was reversed at low density. This experiment demonstrates the importance of the environment on sex-specific responses to parasites and contributes to a growing body of work examining sources of variation in host-parasite interactions.
Tseng
Michelle
M
Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-3700, USA. mictseng@bio.indiana.edu
D000330:Aedes / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D003441:Crowding / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013997:Time Factors; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology