PhD. student Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida Vero Beach, Florida, United States
Wolbachia are bacteria that naturally infect numerous arthropod species. We evaluated Wolbachia’s impact on fitness and West Nile virus (WNV) infection in Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes under varying larval competition stress. Mosquitoes experienced higher fitness costs as larval competition increased. However, Wolbachia infection promoted adult eclosion under high larval competition and reduced WNV loads, but only when larval competition was low. Our results show an important role for environmental stresses and native Wolbachia in mosquito-pathogen dynamics.
