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Tracking Microbial Communities Across Aedes Albopictus Life Stages and Larval Habitat Types


 Aedes albopictus, the Tiger Mosquito, has been hailed as one of the most invasive arbovirus-transmitting mosquitoes globally. With the growing potential of microbial methods for mosquito control, it has become increasingly imperative to understand the factors that contribute to naturally-occurring microbiome communities. Here, we analyzed the impact of larval water type and life stage on the microbial community of Aedes albopictus. The field-collected water samples from tree holes and tires that were used to rear larval mosquitoes in the laboratory were significantly different from each other in terms of sOTU (bacterial species) richness, with tree holes having a far greater number of sOTUs. For beta diversity measures (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) Aedes albopictus were not significantly different from adult Aedes aegypti, but mosquito sex, life stage, and overall treatment group were significantly different when analyzed by ANOSIM. Based on our findings, the environment surrounding larval mosquitoes (and subsequent adult mosquitoes from those habitats) and the life stage of mosquitoes (regardless of species) shapes mosquito microbiome assemblages. This work further supports the idea that mosquito adults maintain a microbiome specific to larval habitat, despite major reductions to their microbiome prior to eclosion, which could shape the success of implemented microbial engineering or control methods.