Abstract
The mosquito Skusea pembaensis Theobald inhabits mangrove habitats in East Africa, where the adults oviposit on crabs and the larvae undergo development in the water at the bottom of crab burrows. In Tanga, Tanzania, Sk. pembaensis adults were observed in and around the burrows of the land crab Cardisoma carnifex Herbst, a previously unreported association. C. carnifex adults were transported from the mangrove to a laboratory holding container, immersed in tap water, and released 2 days later. Larvae of Skusea pembaensis were recovered from 91 % of C. carnifex of diverse sizes and both sexes, preliminary evidence of the close association between these two species in coastal Northeastern Tanzania. Sk. pembaensis is a neglected species but may be a vector of medical importance.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Gianna Innocenti and Marco Vannini of the Museo di Storia Naturale dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze for identifying the crabs and providing information on crab biology. Special thanks to Jonathan Thornton and Bernard Malongo for their help in preparatory work and to the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) for the bench space in their laboratory at Tanga.
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Irish, S.R., Kirby, M.J. Preliminary Observations on the Association of Skusea pembaensis (Diptera: Culicidae) and Cardisoma carnifex (Decapoda: Geocarcinidae) in Mangroves of Northeast Tanzania. J Insect Behav 26, 740–744 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-013-9393-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-013-9393-5