Microbial mediation of invasion: Effects of environmental microbiota on the development and physiology of Aedes albopictus

Abstract

Global invasions by the mosquito Aedes albopictus pose serious threats to biodiversity and public health due to its capacity to vector multiple emerging infectious diseases. As a highly invasive species, its success is closely linked to environmental conditions during its complex life cycle. In this study, we investigated how compositionally distinct environmental microbiomes influence A. albopictus development, physiology and starvation resistance. Larvae were reared in mesocosms containing water from three sources—laboratory, plastic buckets and bromeliad tanks—each filtered at three levels (30–50 μm, 10 μm and 0.1 μm) to manipulate microbial diversity. We found that microbial community composition significantly affected larval development time and pupation success. Larvae reared in water with reduced microbial diversity developed faster and had higher pupation success than those exposed to more complex communities. Although lipid concentrations and time to adult eclosion were unaffected across habitat types, adult survival under starvation conditions varied significantly by microbial exposure and sex. Females from low‐diversity habitat types exhibited the highest survival, suggesting early‐life microbial environments influence adult fitness traits critical to invasion success. These results highlight the ecological importance of environmental microbiomes in shaping mosquito life history and suggest that microbial diversity in larval habitat types may influence the establishment and spread of A. albopictus in novel environments.