Landscape and Environmental Factors Influencing Stage Persistence and Abundance of the Bamboo Mosquito, <i>Tripteroides bambusa</i> (Diptera: Culicidae), across an Altitudinal Gradient

• Main Authors: Luis Fernando Chaves, Mariel D. Friberg, Jiun-Yu Jian, Kazuhiko Moji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
• Series: Insects
• Subjects: Schmalhausen’s law; landscape ecology; environmental kurtosis; overdispersion; complex life cycle
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/2/41

The bamboo mosquito, <i>Tripteroides bambusa</i> (Yamada) (Diptera: Culicidae)<b>,</b> is a common insect across East Asia. Several studies have looked at the ecology of <i>Tr. bambusa</i> developmental stages separately, but little is known about the factors associated with the persistence (how often) and abundance (how many individuals) of <i>Tr. bambusa</i> stages simultaneously studied across a heterogeneous landscape. Here, we ask what environmental and landscape factors are associated with the persistence and abundance of <i>Tr. bambusa</i> stages across the altitudinal gradient of Mt. Konpira, Nagasaki City, Japan. During a season-long study we counted 8065 (7297 4th instar larvae, 670 pupae and 98 adults) <i>Tr. bambusa</i> mosquitoes. We found that persistence and abundance patterns were not associated among stages, with the exception of large (4th instar) and small (1st to 3rd instars) larvae persistence, which were positively correlated. We also found that relative humidity was associated with the persistence of <i>Tr. bambusa</i> aquatic stages, being positively associated with large and small larvae, but negatively with pupae. Similarly, landscape aspect changed from positive to negative the sign of its association with <i>Tr. bambusa</i> pupae and adults, highlighting that environmental associations change with life stage. Meanwhile, <i>Tr. bambusa</i> abundance patterns were negatively impacted by more variable microenvironments, as measured by the negative impacts of kurtosis and standard deviation (SD) of environmental variables, indicating <i>Tr. bambusa</i> thrives in stable environments, suggesting this mosquito species has a finely grained response to environmental changes.