Meeting Abstract

1.4  Sunday, Jan. 4  Costs and benefits of predator induced behaviour in larvae of the urban mosquito (Aedes notoscriptus) VAN UITREGT, B. O*; WILSON, R. S; The University of Queensland; The University of Queensland v.vanuitregt@uq.edu.au

Prey often exhibit behavioural and morphological responses that convey greater survival in the presence of predators. The evolution and maintenance of such responses requires a functional trade-off between alternate phenotypes. That is, predator-adapted phenotypes must be beneficial in the presence of predators but costly in their absence. While the cost/benefit trade-off of prey responses seem intuitive, they are often difficult to demonstrate empirically. In this study, we examine the costs and benefits of the behavioural response of larval mosquitoes Aedes notoscriptus to fish predators. Larval Ae. notoscriptus reduce activity in the presence of predator chemical cues from Eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. We will test the adaptive benefits of the behavioural response by entering predator-exposed and -naive larvae into predation trials with G. holbrooki. Fitness costs will be measured by comparing longevity and lifetime fecundity of predator-exposed to predator-naive females. We predict that larvae exposed to predator chemical cues throughout development will avoid detection from G. holbrooki for longer, but suffer a shorter adult life span and/or reduced lifetime fecundity. We will discuss the findings of these experiments and the potential use of aqueous predator chemical cues as control agents of pest mosquitoes.