Effect of water pollution on development and anti-predatory behavior of Culex pipiens larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) /
تأثير تلوث المياه على النمو والسلوك المضاد للإفتراس ليرقات كيولكس بيبينس (ثنائية الاجنحه: كيولسيدى
Nermeen Raffat Mahmoud Hussein Amer ; Supervised Nawal Zohdy Mohammed Zohdy , Aly Ahmed Younes , Wael Mahmoud Elsayed
- Cairo : Nermeen Raffat Mahmoud Hussein Amer , 2021
- 95 , (11) P. : charts ; 25cm
Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science - Department of Entomology
Water pollution with heavy metals is one of the most important issues that impact the ecological balance of aquatic ecosystems. Copper is one of the essential metals that affects the development and physiology of aquatic organisms. In excess amount it could impair the nervous system and behavior. Copper can enter the aquatic habitats through various ways including agriculture applications where it is used infungicides and algaecides. This study is aiming to assess the lethal and sub-lethal effects of copper on the development, predation behavior and AChE activity on the immature stages, as well as accumulation of copper in larval and adults tissues of the mosquito Culex pipiens as a model insect across two successive generations. Copper increased larval mortality in both generations with an average recorded LC50 of 476 30.60 æg/l (421.99 - 546.06 æg/l) and 348.67 23.20 æg/l(306.52 - 400.85 æg/l) in the first and second generations, respectively. As well, there was a significant increase in cumulative mortalities through adult emergence from 6% at controls to 54% at 500 æg/lin the first generation and from 4% at controls to 92.5% at 500 æg/l in the second generation. There was 100% mortality at the highest concentration (1000 æg/l)in the first generation. Moreover, copper delayed the development period of the immature stages byabout 4-5 days compared to controls of both generations. In this study, the chronic exposures to copper showed greater toxicity than reported for shorter exposures of Cx. pipiens, and confamilial taxa such as Cx. hortensis and Anopheles hispaniola. In addition, we tested the swimming behavior of Cx. pipiens larvae in response to copper and predation cues