Comparative efficiency of some mosquitofish species on different stages of Culex pipiens L. under laboratory conditions | Efficacite comparee de quelques especes de poissons a l'egard de divers stades de Culex pipiens L. dans des conditions de laboratoire
2001
Bendali, F. | Djebbar, F. | Soltani, N. (Universite Badji-Mokhtar, Annaba (Algery). Fac. des Sciences. Lab. de Biologie animale et appliquee. Dept. de Biologie)
Due to its large geographical distribution, its abundance and to its harmfulness, Culex pipiens L. represents the most interesting mosquito species in Algeria, particularly in urban areas. Mosquitoes are generally controlled by conventional insecticides. The biological control is an alternative to chemical methods. Several fish species have been used in the biological control of mosquitoes, and the most known one is Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard, 1853) (Pisces, Poeciliidae). The aim of the present investigation is to evaluate, under laboratory conditions, the predatory capacity of two autochthonous Cyprinidae species, Pseudophoxinus callensis (Guichenot, 1850) and Pseudophoxinus guichenoti (Pellegrin, 1920) against different stages of Culex pipiens, in comparison with that of a referenced mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, introduced in Algeria. Moreover, a biochemical analysis (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) has also been carried out at different developmental stages in Culex pipiens. The results show that carbohydrates are the major component, and that the proportion of various metabolites is comparable in different developmental stages of Culex pipiens. In addition, the predatory activity of tested fishes decreased globally with time and is relatively important against the three first larval instars of Culex pipiens. These observations are related, more or less, with the increasing weight of mosquito individuals during the different stages of post-embryonic development, rather than with food quality. Finally, the comparison of the predatory potential (number of mosquito individuals ingested per gram of fish weight) among the three tested reveal that Gambinus affinis is the most efficient one.
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