DIFFERENTIAL VULNERABILITY AMONG MOSQUITO SPECIES TO PREDATION BY THECYCLOPOID COPEPOD, ACANTHOCYCLOPS-VIRIDIS

Cyclopoid copepods and their prey provide a convenient system for stud ying various aspects of predation. Cyclopoid copepods also show promis e as biological control agents of mosquitoes, although success varies greatly among copepod species and among mosquito species as prey. We m easured predation rates by the cyclopoid copepod Acanthocyclops viridi s on newly-hatched larvae of four mosquito species in the laboratory. We tested the hypothesis that predation rates vary among mosquito spec ies. Vulnerability to predation varied considerably among species, but was not a function of mosquito size. In a comparison of three mosquit o species comprising three genera, Aedes aegypti was most vulnerable t o predation followed by the considerably larger Culiseta longiareolata . Culex pipiens, the smallest of the three, was the least vulnerable. Toxorhynchites amboinensis, examined by a different experimental desig n, was also preyed upon by this copepod. A. viridis should be assessed further for its role as a natural predator and as a potential biologi cal control agent of mosquito larvae in temporary habitats.