Effects of Cohabitation on the Population Performance and Survivorship of the Invasive Mosquito Aedes albopictus and the Resident Mosquito Aedes notoscriptus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Australia.
The presence of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) in the Torres Strait of northern Australia increases the potential for colonization and establishment on the mainland. However, there is a possibility that native species that occupy the same habitats may influence the population performance of Ae. albopictus, potentially affecting the establishment of this species in Australia. Cohabitation experiments were performed with the endemic Aedes notoscriptus (Skuse), which has been found occupying the same larval habitats as Ae. albopictus in the Torres Strait and is the most widespread container-inhabiting Aedes species in Australia. The influence of environmental factors and cohabitation between the two species was examined using different climates, food resource levels, food resource types, and species densities. Survivorship proportions and a population performance index (λ') were calculated and compared. The consequences of increased Ae. notoscriptus densities were reduced survivorship and λ' for Ae. albopictus. Despite this, the mean λ' of Ae. albopictus and Ae. notoscriptus was consistently ≥ 1.06, indicating both species could increase under all conditions, potentially due to increasing conspecific densities negatively affecting Ae. notoscriptus. The outcomes from this study suggest that the preexisting presence of Ae. notoscriptus may not prevent the establishment of Ae. albopictus in Australia.
School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia. School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
J
J
Nicholson
School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitative Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia.
S A
SA
Ritchie
Department of Medical Entomology, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2006, Australia.
R C
RC
Russell
Department of Medical Entomology, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2006, Australia.
C E
CE
Webb
School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
A
A
Cook
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
M P
MP
Zalucki
Sansom Institute for Health Research, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
C R
CR
Williams
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
P
P
Ward
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. Public Health Virology, Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia. andrew.vandenhurk@helath.qld.gov.au.
A F
AF
van den Hurk
D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011156:Population Density; D011793:Queensland
Aedes albopictus; Aedes notoscriptus; Australia; cohabitation; population performance index