First report on the integration of copepods and Wolbachia to control Aedes larvae in Thailand

Abstract

Wolbachia is a group of Rickettsia-like, intracellular, maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts that infect a diverse range of arthropods and cause reproductive changes in their hosts. Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides is a species of copepod crustacean that naturally infected with Wolbachia. While its role in some hosts has been studied extensively, its incidence among copepod species is still largely unknown. Here, we present the first report on the study of the integration between copepods and Wolbachia (Wolbachia-infected copepods) compared with Wolbachia-uninfected copepods (Tetracyclin-treated) to determine the predatory efficacy for controlling on the Aedes larvae under laboratory conditions. The main objective was to examine if Wolbachia-infected M. thermocyclopoides had a better efficiency for Aedes control than Wolbachia-uninfected ones. Based on the findings, the copepods with Wolbachia infection had a higher predatory efficiency than uninfected ones. Therefore, they could be recommended as potential candidates for biocontrol agents of Aedes mosquitoes in the future.