A new microsporidian parasite of the genus Amblyospora (Hazard and Oldacre, 1975) identified from the halophilic mosquito Ochlerotatus detritus (Haliday, 1833) (Diptera: Culicidae) through rDNA ITS sequencing

Abstract

Ochlerotatus detritus (Haliday, 1833) from Parkgate marshes, Wirral, UK are shown to be parasitised by a new species of Amblyospora (Hazard and Oldacre, 1975) microsporidian. Phylogenetic analysis shows that Internal Transcribed Spacer sequences from this microsporidian are distinct from those of all known microsporidia identified to date, but form a clade with Amblyospora weiseri Lukeš and Vávra, 1990 and A. stictici Andreadis, 1994, microsporidia identified from Ochlerotatus cantans Meigen, 1818 and O. sticticus Meigen, 1838, respectively. Prevalence rates, from pooled samples (N = 5 per pool) were low (2.37%; lower limit 0.78%, upper limit 5.62%), which may be a consequence of these ephemeral brackish water pool habitats periodically drying out. There is increasing interest in the use of microsporidian parasites as novel vector control strategies and understanding the phenology of this microsporidian and its mosquito host may ultimately lead to new methods of control for this nuisance biting species.