title: Density-dependent intraspecific competition in the larval stage of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): revisiting the current paradigm.
abstract: Density-dependent intraspecific competition has been considered an important determinant of the dynamics of larval stages of Aedes aegypti. A model was published in 1984 providing a mathematical description of this density dependence, based on field data, that has since been widely used. This description, however, is based on the strong assumption that all mortality is density-dependent. We re-examine the data without this premise and find a reduced importance of density dependence, as well as a different functional form. Based on these discrepancies, we emphasize that the characterization of density dependence in the larval stages of Ae. aegypti should be based on a more complete dataset, and we use artificially generated data to explore how such additional information could help developing a better description of this density dependence. We review other empirical studies on larval competition, discuss the need for further dedicated studies, and provide a few simple guidelines for the design of such studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. mlegros@ncsu.edu
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Legros
authors.forename: Alun L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: Yunxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gould
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics