Journal
HYDROBIOLOGIA
Volume 749, Issue 1, Pages 113-123Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10750-014-2154-4
Keywords
Predator-prey interaction; Behavior; Video-recording experiment; Megacyclops; Aedes aegypti
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Funding
- Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, ROC [NSC 98-2621-B-019-001-MY3, NSC 99-2611-M-019-009, NSC 100-2611-M-019-010, NSC 101-2611-M-019-011, NSC 102-2611-M-019-003, NSC 102-2923-B-019-001-MY3]
- NSC grant [102-2811-B-019-002]
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In aquatic ecosystems, body size has a remarkable influence on the hierarchical structure of food webs and trophic interactions. The trophic relationship between mosquito larvae and copepods offers an exception to the conspicuous feature that the bigger consumes the smaller. We here address this ecological question by investigating the predation impact of the epibenthic cyclopoid copepod Megacyclops formosanus on a 30-h old mosquito larvae Aedes aegypti in a controlled environment. Our quantitative assessment depicted the effect of M. formosanus on 30-h old mosquito larvae. We found that copepod captured mosquito larvae on an average 1.6 +/- A 0.20 larvae ind(-1) h(-1) with an attack speed 22.80 +/- A 8.52 mm s(-1). In addition, copepod predation dramatically affected mosquito behavior. In the presence of predator, mosquito larvae significantly decreased browsing and filtering paths, while using mixed foraging tactics and shifting the habitat use from the bottom to surfacing or air-water interfacing. These results provide a mechanistic understanding of the interaction between mosquito and cyclopoid copepods, and show that copepod predation constrains the habitat use of mosquito larvae. Copepod predation pressure results in reduced facultative behavioral responses that challenge mosquito life history and ultimately percolate its population fitness.
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