Variability of intra‐ and interspecific competitions of bamboo stump mosquito larvae over small and large spatial scales

Abstract

We carried out field experiments to examine the variability of interspecific competition of mosquito larvae among microcosms in a bamboo grove (small spatial scale) and between bamboo groves at two sites, with single and multiple mosquito species (large spatial scale). Four types of microcosms that differed in capacity and litter input were set. In the hillside bamboo grove, where multiple species occurred, succession of the predominant species from Aedes albopictus to Tripteroides bambusa was observed in control microcosms from which no mosquito larvae were removed. Weekly removal of competitive species resulted in increased pupation of A. albopictus and adult body weight under both rich and poor resource conditions. In the late period of the experiments, the effect of competitor removal on pupation of A. albopictus was greater in deep containers that never dried than in shallow containers that were dried in the laboratory. The number of eggs showed a slight difference between competitor‐excluded and deep control microcosms. These results indicate that interspecific competition limits pupation of A. albopictus more strongly in deep containers than in shallow and drought‐prone containers. Compared with the hillside site, the larval density of A. albopictus attained a higher density in the bamboo grove in the plain where no competitive species occurred, due to a higher oviposition rate. Lower rate of pupation and lower adult weight at the plain site than at the hillside site indicated that resource limitation was more severe at the plain site. Populations of A. albopictus at hillside and plain sites appeared to suffer from strong inter‐ and intraspecific competition, respectively. At the hillside site, the intensity of interspecific competition appeared to increase later in the breeding season, with a high larval density of T. bambusa. In contrast, at the plain site, intensity of intraspecific competition appeared to be reduced later in the breeding season with decreasing larval density of A. albopictus.