Laboratory Susceptibility of Wyeomyia smithii (Diptera: Culicidae) to Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Apicomplexa: Lecudinidae)

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Abstract
Gregarines in the genus Ascogregarina are not known to develop in sabethine mosquitoes, but we successfully infected larvae of Wyeomyia smithii with Ascogregarina taiwanensis in the laboratory. Ascogregarina taiwanensis is a natural parasite of the exotic Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. Only 18% to 70% of the W. smithii larvae had visible trophozoites, with a range of 1–92 per larva. Trophozoites persisted in the midgut for more than 37 d, and one adult female W. smithii had gametocysts in its Malphigian tubules, which indicated that A. taiwanensis might fully develop in W. smithii. After 50 d, gregarines were not found in W. smithii larvae.