RESUMO
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Aedes albopictus has been known as efficient vector of dengue in Asian countries and its wide displacement of Ae. aegypti has been documented in many parts of the world. The present survey was carried out to update the distribution of Ae. albopictus in northeast Mexico and to report the first record of parasitism of mosquitoes by Ascogregarina taiwanensis in Mexico. METHODS: Human landing collections were conducted in the month of May every year between 2007 and 2009 across the three states, Nuevo Leon (NL), Tamaulipas and Coahuila in northeast Mexico. Six human bait collections were also organized at the cemetery of Gomez Farias (GF), a village in southern Tamaulipas during the rainy and dry seasons in 2010. Aedes albopictus caught in 2010 were dissected for parasitic protozoan gregarines. RESULTS: The results of human landing collections carried out during 2007-10 across the three states of northeast zone of Mexico revealed that Ae. albopictus is invading along the route between Monterrey City in NL and Tampico, Tamaulipas, but not into the arid state of Coahuila. Aedes albopictus was recorded in nine new municipalities in addition to the 15 municipalities reported before 2005. Furthermore, six human-bait collections performed during the dry and rainy seasons in 2010 at the cemetery of GF suggest the exclusion of Ae. aegypti on that site. Dominance was shared by Ae. quadrivittatus, another container-inhabitant but indigenous species, and Ae. albopictus during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The results of dissection of the mosquitoes for gregarines revealed the parasitism of Ae. albopictus by A. taiwanensis. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that Ae. albopictus has spread to all the municipalities in the northeastern Mexico except the arid area and reported the first record of parasitic protozoan A. taiwanensis in Mexico. We recommend further studies on larval and adult populations of natural container-occupant mosquitoes in northeastern Mexico in order to have a better documentation of the impact of Ae. albopictus upon the indigenous species community, and its epidemiological role in dengue transmission.
Assuntos
Aedes/fisiologia , Aedes/parasitologia , Apicomplexa/fisiologia , Insetos Vetores/fisiologia , Insetos Vetores/parasitologia , Infecções por Protozoários/transmissão , Aedes/classificação , Animais , Coleta de Dados , Dengue/transmissão , Feminino , Geografia , Interações Hospedeiro-Parasita , Humanos , Insetos Vetores/classificação , Larva , México/epidemiologia , Dinâmica Populacional , Infecções por Protozoários/epidemiologia , Estações do Ano , Especificidade da EspécieRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Resistance to chemical insecticides plus high morbidity rates have lead to rising interest in fungi as candidates for biocontrol agents of mosquito vectors. In most studies fungal infections have been induced by exposure of mosquitoes to various surfaces treated with conidia. In the present study eight Mexican strains of Beauveria bassiana were assessed against Aedes aegypti by direct exposure of females to 6 × 10(8) conidia ml (-1) on a filter paper, afterwards, the transmission of the least and most virulent isolates was evaluated by mating behavior from virgin, fungus-contaminated male to females, to examine this ethological pattern as a new approach to deliver conidia against the dengue vector. METHODS: In an exposure chamber with a filter paper impregnated with 6 × 10(8) conidia ml (-1) of the least and most virulent strains of B. bassiana, 6-8 day old males of A. aegypti were exposed for 48 hours, and then transferred individually (each one was a replicate) to another chamber and confined with twenty healthy females of the same age. Clean males were used in controls. Survival, infection by true mating (insemination) or by mating attempts (no insemination) and fecundity were daily registered until the death of last female. Data analysis was conducted with proc glm for unbalanced experiments and means were separated with the Ryan test with SAS. RESULTS: All strains were highly virulent with LT(50) ranging from 2.70 (± 0.29) to 5.33 (± 0.53) days. However the most (Bb-CBG2) and least virulent (Bb-CBG4) isolates were also transmitted by mating behavior; both killed 78-90% of females in 15 days after being confined with males that had previously been exposed for 48 hours to fungi. Of these mortality rates, 23 and 38% respectively, were infections acquired by copulations where insemination occurred. The LT(50) for sexually-infected females were 7.92 (± 0.46) and 8.82 (± 0.45) days for both strains, while the one in control was 13.92 (± 0.58). Likewise, fecundity decreased by 95% and 60% for both Bb-CBG2 and Bb-CBG4 isolates in comparison with control. The role of mating attempts in this delivery procedure of B. bassiana is discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report about transmission of B. bassiana by mating behavior from virgin, fungus-contaminated males to females in A. aegypti. Fungal infections acquired by this route (autodissemination) infringed high mortality rates (90%) in mated or approached females. However, prior to releasing virgin, fungus-contaminated males to spread B. basasiana among females of A. aegypti, this novel alternative needs further investigations.