Environmental Entomology (1992) 21, 737-744

Scott A. Ritchie and David S. Addison (1992)
Oviposition preferences of Aedes taeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Florida mangrove forests
Environmental Entomology 21 (4), 737-744
Abstract: Ovipositional preferences of Aedes taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann) in south Florida mangrove basin forests were measured by eggshell sampling and compared with several site characteristics. Mangrove basin forest geomorphology (elevation mean, standard deviation, range, and basin spillover elevation), soil (litter standing crop, soil bulk density, and percentage organic matter), and vegetation (total absolute dominance and vegetative association) were quantified and correlated with eggshell density at 34 sites. The only significant (P < 0.05) variables (basin spillover elevation, elevation range) accounted for 58% of the variability of eggshell density using a piecewise regression model. These data indicated that any mangrove basin forest, regardless of vegetative association, flooded by <14% of the highest daily tides, can potentially produce A. taeniorhynchus. Including data from operational surveys, nearly 50% of the sites sampled (n = 89) contained sufficient eggshells (0.05 per cubic centimeter) to produce significant larval broods. Sites flooded only by storm tides were especially productive, with high upland eggshell densities indicated oviposition even when mangrove plains were flooded.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Scott A. Ritchie

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes taeniorhynchus		U.S.A. (SE)