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Seasonal pattern of avian Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes and implications for parasite transmission in central Panama

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Abstract

Aedeomyia squamipennis and Culex (Melanoconion) ocossa, two ubiquitous Neotropical mosquito species, are likely involved in the transmission of several bird pathogens in Gamboa, central Panama. However, knowledge on their eco-epidemiological profiles is still incomplete. Our goal in this study was to investigate temporal trends of vector density and their relationship with avian plasmodia prevalence. This information is central to identifying the risk posed by each vector species to the avian community locally. We found that A. squamipennis maintains stable population size across climatic seasons and thus maybe a more efficient vector of avian malaria than C. ocossa. In contrast, C. ocossa, which undergoes considerable population expansion in the rainy season and contraction in the dry season, is likely only an important avian malaria vector during part of the year. This is consistent with the larger number of parasite isolations and Plasmodium cyt b lineages recovered from A. squamipennis than from C. ocossa and might be explained by marked differences in their seasonality and host-feeding preferences. More Plasmodium PCR testing in mosquito communities from other areas of Panama might reveal additional vectors of avian plasmodia.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Andrea Gager, formerly from Princeton University, for the opportunity to collaborate on her Ph.D. thesis project; Eldredge Bermingham; and Oris I. Sanjur from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) for logistical support and academic guidance. We acknowledge the help of Sara Veronica Pinzon, Jose R. Rovira, and Jorge Morales in collecting mosquito larvae in Gamboa. Additionally, we thank James Pecor from the Walter Reed Biosystematics Units (WRBU), U.S.A., and Luis Guillermo Chaverry from the National Institute of Biodiversity of Costa Rica (INBio) for assisting with species identification in the subgenus Melanoconion of Culex. Milton Solano produced the map on Fig. 1, Eyda Gomez offered logistic support throughout the study, and Marilyn Scott, from McGill University, critically commented on an earlier version of this work. Funding was provided by INDICASAT AIP, STRI, and the National Secretariat for Science, Technology, and Innovation of Panama (SENACYT)–Research Investigator Award (SNI) granted to JRL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología, Edificio 219, Clayton, PO 0843-01103, Ciudad del Saber, Panama

    Jose R. Loaiza

  2. Programa Centroamericano de Maestría en Entomología, Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad de Panamá, Panama, Panama

    Jose R. Loaiza

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Panama, Panama

    Matthew J. Miller

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  1. Jose R. Loaiza
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Correspondence to Jose R. Loaiza.

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Loaiza, J.R., Miller, M.J. Seasonal pattern of avian Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes and implications for parasite transmission in central Panama. Parasitol Res 112, 3743–3751 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3562-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3562-5

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