Nectar protein content and attractiveness to Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens in plants with nectar/insect associations. Acta Trop 2015 Jun;146:81-8
Date
03/21/2015Pubmed ID
25792420DOI
10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.03.010Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84925386911 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 9 CitationsAbstract
We chose five easily propagated garden plants previously shown to be attractive to mosquitoes, ants or other insects and tested them for attractiveness to Culex pipiens and Aedes aegypti. Long term imbibition was tested by survival on each plant species. Both mosquito species survived best on Impatiens walleriana, the common garden impatiens, followed by Asclepias curassavica, Campsis radicans and Passiflora edulis, which sponsored survival as well as the 10% sucrose control. Immediate preference for imbibition was tested with nectar dyed in situ on each plant. In addition, competition studies were performed with one dyed plant species in the presence of five undyed plant species to simulate a garden setting. In both preference studies I. walleriana proved superior. Nectar from all plants was then screened for nectar protein content by SDS-PAGE, with great variability being found between species, but with I. walleriana producing the highest levels. The data suggest that I. walleriana may have value as a model plant for subsequent studies exploring nectar delivery of transgenic mosquitocidal proteins.
Author List
Chen Z, Kearney CMAuthor
Zhongyuan Chen PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AedesAnimals
Asclepias
Culex
Feeding Behavior
Humans
Impatiens
Male
Mosquito Control
Passiflora
Pest Control, Biological
Plant Nectar
