Speaker
Description
The presence of Aedes albopictus in Germany raises concerns about its potential ecological impact on native mosquito species, particularly Culex spp. and Culiseta spp. This study investigates whether Ae. albopictus exhibits competitive superiority over native mosquito species under varying temperature regimes, food concentrations and habitat structure and size, and sublethal exposure to Bacillus thuringiensis (BTI), testing the hypothesis that Ae. albopictus dominates under environmental pressure due to greater stress resilience.
Preliminary competition experiments were conducted in 6-well plates at 18°C and 25°C, using L1 larvae under two food levels (4 and 6mg Tetra Pleco per well). Development time, emergence rate, and mortality were monitored across two temperature regimes (25°C-19°C) and the various stressors. In a second step the competition assays were also conducted across different container sizes to include larval habitat size as a stessor (6-well plates, urine cups, 300mL containers, 500mL flat and high containers, and 1L trays).
The main experiment used field-collected eggs from ovitraps across urban areas in Hannover. Eggs were reared in cold chambers at 18°C and subjected to competition assays. Species composition of ovitrap catches was assessed using emerged adults. Different stressors were tested at 19°C and 25°C.
These findings will help to identify which larval habitats support the presence of the tiger mosquito in the context of climate change.
Keywords
Aedes albopictus, Culex pipiens spp., Competition
| Registration ID | OHA26-146 |
|---|---|
| Professional Status of the Speaker | Graduate Student |
| Junior Scientist Status | Yes, I am a Junior Scientist. |
Author
Co-authors
External references
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