Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2014) 28, 90-97

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A.A. Hoffmann, A.A. Goundar, S.A. Long, P.H. Johnson and S.A. Ritchie (2014)
Invasion of Wolbachia at the residential block level is associated with local abundance of Stegomyia aegypti, yellow fever mosquito, populations and property attributes
Medical and Veterinary Entomology 28 (S1), 90-97
Abstract: Wolbachia can suppress dengue and control mosquito populations and this depends on the successful invasion of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes into local populations. Ovitrap data collected during the recent invasion of wMel-infected Stegomyia aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) (Linnaeus) into Gordonvale near Cairns, Australia, were used to identify variables that help predict the success of localized invasion. Based on the variance in Wolbachia frequencies across Gordonvale as well as at another release site at Yorkeys Knob in comparison to simulations, it was estimated that on average 2–4 females contributed eggs to an ovitrap. By collating ovitrap data from two collection periods at the start of the release from residential blocks, it was found that uninfected mosquitoes had a patchy distribution across the release site. Residential blocks with relatively high uninfected mosquito numbers were less easily invaded by Wolbachia than blocks with low numbers. The numbers of uninfected mosquitoes in ovitraps were negatively correlated with the proportion of brick houses in a residential block, whereas local Wolbachia frequencies were correlated positively with this variable as well as negatively with the amount of shading in a yard and availability of breeding sites. These findings point to proxy measures for predicting the ease of localized invasion of Wolbachia.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Database assignments for author(s): Ary A. Hoffmann, Scott A. Ritchie

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
inundative/inoculative release

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes aegypti		Australia (NT+QLD)
Wolbachia (genus - entomopathogens)	Aedes aegypti		Australia (NT+QLD)