Abstract
Mosquitoes have increased in their abundance and geographic distribution in northeastern North America, coinciding with an increase in extreme precipitation events and up to a doubling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations in some inland waters. Increases in DOM can reduce exposure of mosquito larvae to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Although mosquito larvae are most common in shaded habitats, almost nothing is known about their susceptibility to damage by solar UV radiation, or the ability of DOM to create a refuge from damaging UV in their shallow-water habitats. We hypothesize that 1) exposure to solar UV radiation is lethal to mosquito larvae, 2) larvae lack photo-enzymatic repair to fix UV-damaged DNA, and 3) DOM shades larvae from lethal solar UV radiation. We tested these hypotheses with experiments that manipulated UV radiation, the photo-repair radiation necessary for photo-enzymatic DNA repair, and DOM. Exposure to solar UV radiation significantly decreased larval survivorship, while DOM significantly increased it. There was no evidence of photo-enzymatic DNA repair. Our findings confirm that solar UV radiation decreases habitat suitability for mosquito larvae, but DOM provides a refuge from UV. This highlights the need for vector control managers to prioritize high DOM and shaded habitats in their efforts to reduce mosquito populations.
Highlights
Many mosquitoes, such as the invasive Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus, are vectors of diseases (i.e. Zika virus and dengue fever) and are expanding their habitat range to more northern latitudes of the continental United States of America [1,2,3]
In cases where multiple egg rafts were used, all larvae were homogenously mixed into a container before being used for an experiment, and a subsample of larvae were removed from each egg raft for identification
Overall the statistical model and corresponding comparisons demonstrated that the presence of solar UV radiation decreased survivorship, and there was no evidence that photo-enzymatic repair (PER) significantly increased survival, the presence of DOM did (Table 1)
Summary
Many mosquitoes, such as the invasive Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus, are vectors of diseases (i.e. Zika virus and dengue fever) and are expanding their habitat range to more northern latitudes of the continental United States of America [1,2,3]. In northeastern North America (NENA), this range expansion is correlated with heavier precipitation and warmer air temperatures [1,2,3,4,5], as well as with human-facilitated dispersal [6]. The increased abundance of Culex pipiens and C. restuans in NENA forests has led to increased transmission of West Nile Virus to wildlife such as the ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) [7]. Current management strategies are challenged by the inability to selectively kill adult mosquitoes without killing beneficial insects [9], and by the fact that mosquitoes are rapidly
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