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Biomédica
Print version ISSN 0120-4157
Abstract
ULVEDAL, Carolina; BERTOLOTTI, María Alejandra; CAGNOLO, Susana Raquel and ALMIRON, Walter Ricardo. Laboratory susceptibility tests of Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus larvae to the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Biomédica [online]. 2017, vol.37, suppl.2, pp.67-76. ISSN 0120-4157. https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.v34i2.3470.
Introduction:
Aedes aegypti is the vector of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and Chikungunya viruses, and Culex quinquefasciatus is the vector of St. Louis and West Nile encephalitis viruses.
Objective:
To evaluate infectivity of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora N4 in C. quinquefasciatus and A. aegypti larvae under laboratory conditions.
Materials and methods:
Thirty second-instar larvae of the two mosquito species were exposed each to different doses (0:1, 1:1, 5:1, 15:1, 100:1, 500:1, 750:1 and 1,500:1) of nematode infective juveniles. Four replications per dose were performed.
Results:
Parasitism varied between 2.5 and 80 % in C. quinquefasciatus, and between 4.2 and 92.5 % in A. aegypti, with significant differences between doses (p<0.0001). DL50 were: 160.8 infective juveniles per larva for C. quinquefasciatus and 113.6 infective juveniles per larva for A. aegypti. In C. quinquefasciatus, 4 to 6 % of the infective juveniles developed to adults and in A. aegypti, 12- 61 %. In A. aegypti the emergence of new infective juveniles occurred with 100:1, 500:1, 750:1 and 1,500:1 infective juveniles per larva, and in C. quinquefasciatus, with 1,500:1 infective juveniles per larva. Melanization of infective juveniles was observed in both mosquito species.
Conclusion:
The susceptibility of these mosquito species to parasitism of an indigenous isolate of H. bacteriophora in the laboratory was demonstrated. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora N4 could be an efficient biological control agent.
Keywords : Aedes aegypti; Culex quinquefasciatus; pest control, biological; nematoda.