Rapid habituation by mosquito larvae to predator kairomones

What is it about?

If a mosquito larva is able to detect the presence of a predator in its pool of water, before the predator is aware that the larva is present, then the larva can change its behaviour to reduce the chance of the predator detecting and eating it. Such long range detection of the predator can be through its kairomones or if it produces specific identifiable water vibrations. However, changes in behaviour usually have a cost in reducing feeding efficiency. Thus if the predator over a period of time does not attack or identify the larva, then it may be more efficient to ignore the risk and revert back to the larva's normal behaviour. In the mosquito Culiseta longiareolata, this habituation to predator kairomones was rapid for some predators such as damselflies, but did not occur for other predators such as dragonflies even after 30h of exposure. In contrast, Culex quinquefasciatus, which has a much smaller predation risk because of the specialised microhabitats in which it lives, rapidly habituated to all predator kairomones.

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Why is it important?

Biological control of mosquito larvae using predators is more efficient if the larvae do not detect and avoid the predators. This paper is part of a series investigating how mosquito larvae detect and reduce predation, to show how their response is very specific to particular predator species that are of a high risk, and how this varies in different mosquito species, which occupy different microhabitats and thus different predation risks.