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The hunting efficiency of natural mosquito larvae predators
Organization(s):Princess Chulabhorn Science High School Trang
Country:Thailand
Student(s):Chitsanucha Jirotkul and Chatcharin Jandee
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Teacher:Patchara Pongmanawut
Contributors:Princess Chulabhorn Science High School Trang, Center of Excellence for Ecoinformatics, Walailak University, The Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology ( IPST )
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report, Mission Mosquito Report
Protocols:Mosquitoes
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Optional Badges:I am a Collaborator, I am a Data Scientist, I make an Impact
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Date Submitted:04/10/2019
We investigated the mosquito hunting efficiency of natural predators in Trang province, Thailand. We collected six types of predators (Thai fighting fish, guppy, water boatman, water strider, toad-tadpoles, and Toxorhynchites mosquito larvae) from water habitats and brought them back to the lab. We identified males and females of predators (except for tadpoles and Toxorhynchites spp.). We also collected two types of mosquito larvae (Aedes and Culex spp.) and brought them back to the lab. We kept the predators in containers for 3 days and fed them normally. Then let them starve for 24 hours before starting the experiment. Afterwards we put 1 male/female predator from each predator type and 10 Aedes/Culex mosquito larvae in one container. We had 6 replicates for each treatment, and in total we had 120 containers. We recorded the time predators took to hunt all the mosquito larvae in the container. We found that males and females of fighting fish and water boatman spent similar time to hunt mosquitoes but females of guppy and water strider spent less time to hunt mosquitoes than males. Moreover, fighting fish and guppy spent less time to hunt Aedes than to hunt Culex larvae. Tadpoles did not hunt mosquito larvae.