Mosquitoes were collected from parks using various traps and/or aspirated from culverts in Franklin County, Ohio, from October to mid-May from 2019 to 2022.
By early October 2021, roughly 95% of
We collected blood-fed and gravid
Mosquitoes in the genus
We collected empirical data on thermal response for immature development rate, egg viability, oviposition, survival to adulthood, and adult lifespan for
We observed linear relationships with temperature for development rate and lifespan, and nonlinear relationships for survival and egg viability, with underlying variation between species. Optimal ranges and critical minima and maxima also appeared varied. To illustrate how model output can change with experimental input data from individual
Current models often input theoretical parameters estimated from a single vector species; we show the need to implement the real-world heterogeneity in thermal response between species and present a useful data resource for researchers working toward that goal.
Mosquitoes were collected from parks using various traps and/or aspirated from culverts in Franklin County, Ohio, from October to mid-May from 2019 to 2022.
By early October 2021, roughly 95% of
We collected blood-fed and gravid
West Nile virus (WNV), primarily vectored by mosquitoes of the genus
This study leverages an alternative mosquito collection method, the human landing catch (HLC), as a means to compare sampling of potential WNV vectors to traditional trapping methods. Human collectors exposed one limb for 15 min at crepuscular periods (5:00–8:30 am and 6:00–9:30 pm daily, the time when
A total of 223 human-seeking mosquitoes were caught by HLC, of which 46 (20.6%) were mosquitoes of genus
The less commonly used HLC method provides important insight into the complement of human-biting mosquitoes in a region with consistent WNV epidemics. This study underscores the value of the HLC collection method as a complementary tool for surveillance to aid in WNV vector species characterization. However, given the added risk to the collector, novel mitigation methods or alternative approaches must be explored to incorporate HLC collections safely and strategically into control programs.
Females of the Northern house mosquito,
We first conducted a phylogenetic analysis to determine how the sequence of CpMRJP1 compares with other species. We then investigated how supplementing the diets of both diapausing and nondiapausing females of
We found that feeding royal jelly to females reared in long-day, diapause-averting conditions significantly reduced the egg follicle lengths and switched their metabolic profiles to be similar to diapausing females. In contrast, feeding royal jelly to females reared in short-day, diapause-inducing conditions significantly reduced lifespan and switched their metabolic profile to be similar nondiapausing mosquitoes. Moreover, RNAi directed against
Taken together, our data show that consuming royal jelly reverses several key seasonal phenotypes of
Insects often exhibit irruptive population dynamics determined by environmental conditions. We examine if populations of the
West Nile virus (WNV) is the leading mosquito-borne disease causing-pathogen in the United States. Concerningly, there are no prophylactics or drug treatments for WNV and public health programs rely heavily on vector control efforts to lessen disease incidence. Insecticides can be effective in reducing vector numbers if implemented strategically, but can diminish in efficacy and promote insecticide resistance otherwise. Vector control programs which employ mass-fogging applications of insecticides, often conduct these methods during the late-night hours, when diel temperatures are coldest, and without a-priori knowledge on daily mosquito activity patterns. This study’s aims were to 1) quantify the effect of temperature on the toxicity of two conventional insecticides used in fogging applications (malathion and deltamethrin) to