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Adult Vector Control and Vector-Borne Diseases Surveillance

Adult Vector Control and Vector-Borne Diseases Surveillance

242 - Mosquito Sugar Feeding and Survivorship on Endemic Flowers of the Greater Salt Lake Area

Thursday, March 6, 2025
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM AST
Location: 208 A
Abstract: Mosquitoes, like many other insects, are dependent on sugar sources. Mosquito-plant interactions in high elevation deserts of the intermountain west of the United States are understudied. In the state of Utah, where salt desert shrublands meet alkaline wetlands, plant communities contain a diversity of flower species. We investigated survivorship on flowering plants using local Culex pipiens under laboratory conditions. Four native angiosperm species, Cleome serrulata, Asclepias incarnata, Asclepias speciosa, and Verbena hastata had the highest mosquito mean percent survival in 10-d assays. Mosquito survival was significantly better on native flowers than on non-native flowers. Endemic mosquitoes in the field were also sampled for frequency of sugar-feeding at six sites across 11 wks. Flower phenology data of the aforementioned four flowers with highest mosquito mean percent survival was taken from iNaturalist and compared to the abundance of sugar-fed mosquitoes from the wild. Generally, flower phenology and sugarfed mosquito abundance followed the same trends, with increased flower sightings cooccurring with increased sugar feeding. Utah, which has comparable habitat to other arid areas where attractive targeted sugar baits (ATSB) have been used successfully, could be a good candidate for ATSB use. These data can facilitate effective deployment of ATSB in Utah during time periods when both flower sightings and sugar feeding is low and facilitate strategies for integrated vector management.