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9 June 2021 Color Preference for Host-Seeking Activity of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)
Sun Ho Jung, Dongmin Kim, Ki-Suck Jung, Dong-Kyu Lee
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Abstract

A cue for long-range vision allows mosquitoes to identify hosts and differentiate the ecological niches (e.g., habitats). However, the visual factors involved in attracting mosquitoes to a host are complex and have not been fully understood. Therefore, we assessed color preference to Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Culex pipiens (Conquillett) as diurnal and nocturnal species, respectively, using seven fundamental colors including black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, and purple with each trap at 100 lux in a laboratory. We used a binary behavioral assay using the Mosquito Preference Index (MPI) as a preference ratio with a range of 0–1. Our analyses showed that Ae. albopictus had a greater response to black (MPIs, 0.7), followed closely by red, blue, and purple (MPIs, 0.6). We also found that red, blue, and purple were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of green (MPI, 0.5), white (MPI, 0.3), and yellow (MPI, 0.2). Similarly, the MPIs for Cx. pipiens were significantly higher at black and red (MPIs, 0.7; P < 0.05) compare to those of white and yellow (MPIs, 0.3; P < 0.05). The color preference of Ae. albopictus showed significant correlation to luminous intensities (L-value) (r = –0.640; P = 0.000) and blue intensities (b-value) (r = –0.372; P = 0.000) for all seven colors. In addition, Cx. pipiens negatively correlated (r = –0.703; P = 0.000) between color preference and L-value. Our analyses provide a greater understanding of how color plays a role in visual sensory stimuli, and how that could potentially affect mosquito host-seeking behavior.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Sun Ho Jung, Dongmin Kim, Ki-Suck Jung, and Dong-Kyu Lee "Color Preference for Host-Seeking Activity of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)," Journal of Medical Entomology 58(6), 2446-2452, (9 June 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab100
Received: 6 January 2021; Accepted: 5 May 2021; Published: 9 June 2021
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KEYWORDS
Aedes albopictus
color
Culex pipiens
host-seeking behavior
mosquito
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