St Fleur, K. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

The effects of host availability and fitness on Aedes albopictus blood feeding patterns in New York

Aedes albopictus is a competent vector of numerous pathogens, representing a range of transmission cycles involving unique hosts. Despite the important status of this vector, variation in its feeding patterns is poorly understood. We examined the feeding patterns of Ae. albopictus utilizing resting collections in Long Island, New York, and contextualized blood meal sources with host availability measured by household interviews and camera traps. We identified 90 blood meals, including 29 human, 22 cat, 16 horse, 12 opossum, 5 dog, 2 goat, and 1 rabbit, rat, squirrel and raccoon. Our study is the first to quantitatively assess Ae. albopictus feeding patterns in the context of host availability of wild animals in addition to humans and domestic animals. Host feeding indices showed that cats and dogs were fed upon disproportionately often compared to humans. Forage ratios suggested a tendency to feed on cats and opossums and to avoid raccoons, squirrels, and birds. This feeding pattern was different from another published study from Baltimore, where Ae. albopictus fed more often on rats than humans. To understand if these differences were due to host availability or mosquito population variation, we compared the fitness of Long Island and Baltimore Ae. albopictus after feeding on rat and human blood. In addition, we examined fitness within the Long Island population after feeding on human, rat, cat, horse, and opossum blood. Together, our results do not show major mosquito fitness differences by blood hosts, suggesting that fitness benefits do not drive Northeastern Ae. albopictus feeding patterns.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Sugar feeding patterns of New York Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are affected by environmental dryness, flowers, and host seeking

BackgroundSugar feeding is an important behavior which may determine vector potential of mosquitoes. Sugar meals can reduce blood feeding frequency, enhance survival, and decrease fecundity, as well as provide energetic reserves to fuel energy intensive behaviors such as mating and host seeking. Sugar feeding behavior also can be harnessed for vector control (e.g. attractive toxic sugar baits). Few studies have addressed sugar feeding of Aedes albopictus, a vector of arboviruses of public health importance, including dengue and Zika viruses. To address this knowledge gap, we assessed sugar feeding patterns of Ae. albopictus for the first time in its invasive northeastern USA range. Methodology/ Principal FindingsUsing the cold anthrone fructose assay with robust sample sizes, we demonstrated that a large percentage of both male (49.6%) and female (41.8%) Ae. albopictus fed on plant or homopteran derived sugar sources within 24 hrs of capture. Our results suggest that sugar feeding behavior increases when environmental conditions are dry and may vary by behavioral status (host seeking vs. resting). Furthermore, mosquitoes collected on properties with flowers (>3 blooms) had higher fructose concentrations compared to those collected from properties with few to no flowers (0-3). Conclusions/SignificanceOur results provide the first evidence of Ae. albopictus sugar feeding behavior in the Northeastern US and reveal relatively high rates of sugar feeding. These results suggest the potential success for regional deployment of toxic sugar baits. In addition, we demonstrate the impact of several environmental and mosquito parameters (environmental dryness, presence of flowers, host seeking status, and sex) on sugar feeding. Placing sugar feeding behavior in the context of these environmental and mosquito parameters provides further insight into spatiotemporal dynamics of feeding behavior for Ae. albopictus, and in turn, provides information for evidence-based control decisions.

ecology↗