VERTEBRATE HOSTS AND
AMPHIBIAN TRYPANOSOMES FROM A POTENTIAL INVERTEBRATE VECTOR, CULEX TERRITANS
WALKER (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE)
Kristen Bartlett-Healy
Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University
180 Jones Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
ABSTRACT
The bloodmeals of field-collected female Culex territans (Diptera: Culicidae) were concurrently assayed for the
presence of trypanosomes and for vertebrate host identification. We amplified
vertebrate DNA in 42 of 119 females, and made positive identification to the
host species level in 29 of those samples.
Of the 119 field-collected Cx.
territans females, 24 were infected
with trypanosomes. Phylogenetic
analysis placed the trypanosomes in the amphibian portion of the aquatic clade of the Trypanosomatidae,
which includes Trypanosoma
rotatorium,
T. ranarum, T. fallsi, and T. mega. These trypanosomes were isolated from Cx. territans females
that had fed on the frog species, Rana clamitans, R. catesbeiana, R. virgatipes, and R. spp. The frequency in
which female Culex territans acquire trypanosomes, through
diverse feeding habits, indicates a new relationship between amphibian
trypanosomes and mosquitoes that has not been previously examined.