How to translate text using browser tools
1 March 2013 Nesting Bird “Host Funnel” Increases Mosquito-Bird Contact Rate
Kevin A. Caillouët, Anna E. Riggan, Lesley P. Bulluck, John C. Carlson, Roy T. Sabo
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Increases in vector-host contact rates can enhance arbovirus transmission intensity. We investigated weekly fluctuations in contact rates between mosquitoes and nesting birds using the recently described Nest Mosquito Trap (NMT). The number of mosquitoes per nestling increased from <1 mosquito per trap night to 36.2 in the final 2 wk of the nesting season. Our evidence suggests the coincidence of the end of the avian nesting season and increasing mosquito abundances may have caused a “host funnel,” concentrating host-seeking mosquitoes to the few remaining nestlings. The relative abundance of mosquitoes collected by the NMT suggests that significantly more Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Culex pipiens (L.) /restuans (Theobald) sought nesting bird bloodmeals than were predicted by their relative abundances in CO2-baited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light and gravid traps. Culex salinarius (Coquillett) and Culex erraticus Dyar and Knab were collected in NMTs in proportion to their relative abundances in the generic traps. Temporal host funnels and nesting bird host specificity may enhance arbovirus amplification and explain observed West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus amplification periods.

© 2013 Entomological Society of America
Kevin A. Caillouët, Anna E. Riggan, Lesley P. Bulluck, John C. Carlson, and Roy T. Sabo "Nesting Bird “Host Funnel” Increases Mosquito-Bird Contact Rate," Journal of Medical Entomology 50(2), 462-466, (1 March 2013). https://doi.org/10.1603/ME12183
Received: 16 August 2012; Accepted: 1 December 2012; Published: 1 March 2013
JOURNAL ARTICLE
5 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
host-seeking rate
Nest Mosquito Trap
West Nile virus
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top