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Oviposition responses of two mosquito species to pool size and predator presence: varying trade-offs between desiccation and predation risks

In: Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution
Authors:
Deborah Saward-Arav Community Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Evolution and Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa

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Asaf Sadeh Community Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Evolution and Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa

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Marc Mangel Center for Stock Assessment Research and Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California
Department of Biology, University of Bergen

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Alan R. Templeton Community Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Evolution and Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa
Department of Biology, Washington University

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Leon Blaustein Community Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Evolution and Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa

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Natural selection is predicted to favor females that can detect risks of desiccation and predation when choosing among temporary pools for oviposition. Pool size may serve both as a cue for desiccation risk and as a predictor for future colonization by predators or for the probability of present, undetected predators. Therefore, oviposition responses to pool size are expected to interact with the presence of predators that can be detected. We measured oviposition by two mosquito species, Culiseta longiareolata and Culex laticinctus, in a mesocosm experiment, crossing two pool surface sizes with presence or absence of the hemipteran predator, Notonecta maculata, which is chemically detectable by mosquitoes. Both mosquito species strongly avoided Notonecta pools. Using a mechanistic statistical model, we accounted for the higher encounter rate of females with larger pools, and determined their true oviposition preferences for pool size. C. laticinctus showed a clear preference for larger pools, but C. longiareolata, a species with larvae more vulnerable to predation, showed no significant preference for pool size. This study confirms the importance of risk of predation in explaining oviposition patterns, and suggests a possible inter-specific variation in the trade-off between predation and desiccation risks.

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