title: Heteropteran insects as mosquito predators in water jars in southern Vietnam.
abstract: Residents of Vietnam living in areas with water shortages and/or poor tap water maintain water storage containers, such as jars, in and around their domiciles in order to store water used in daily life. Although these water jars are known to be important breeding sources of the Aedes mosquito, use of chemical larvicides in such containers is legally prohibited in Vietnam. In this study, we identified the dominant mosquito insect predators in water jars in and around residences located in Tan Chanh, Long An, southern Vietnam. Of 3,646 Heteroptera collected from such jars, Corixidae (Micronecta spp.) and Veliidae (Microvelia spp.) were revealed to be the dominant predators. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed that 40% of Micronecta and 12% of Veliidae had Aedes aegypti-positive reactions, indicating that these two dominant Heteroptera are important predators of Ae. aegypti. Our results suggest that aquatic Heteroptera may be an important mosquito control agent in addition to the currently used copepods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vector Ecology & Environment, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-ya
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: T T Trang
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawada
authors.forename: Loan Luu
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: Huu Tran
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Ngoc
authors.forename: San Le
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higa
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takagi
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D000818:Animals; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009032:Mosquito Control; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014744:Vietnam