Data from: Female mosquitoes disperse further when they develop under predation risk

Predation is one of the strongest selective forces in nature. Organisms characterized by a complex life cycle, undergoing an ontogenetic niche shift, can reduce predation risk on natal stages by metamorphosing earlier. Yet, this anti-predatory response may incur numerous life-history-related costs. Interestingly, the consequence of larval predation risk on adult dispersal, a key trait dictating the persistence of spatially-structured populations, is largely understudied. Here, we explored the effect of larval predation risk on the life-history and dispersal characteristics of female adults in the mosquito Culex pipiens. As predicted, mosquito larvae reared in the presence of a caged larvivorous-fish metamorphosed earlier, while also suffering from reduced survival. Despite this reduction in development time, the body size of emerging females was larger, implying that more resources were allocated to increase the growth rate, probably at the expense of reduced maintenance and storage. This shift in energy allocation translated into decreased pupa and adult survival. Remarkably, the respective dispersal distance of these larger bodied females was greater. We suggest that the increase in dispersal distance allows these females to cover larger areas, while searching for oviposition sites that are safer than their natal aquatic habitat. Exploring the effects of larval conditions on adult dispersal is central for understanding the distribution of organisms with a complex life cycle in spatially heterogeneous environments, and specifically for disease transmission by mosquitoes.

捕食作用是自然界中最强的选择压力之一。具有复杂生活周期、经历个体发育生态位转移（ontogenetic niche shift）的生物，可通过提早变态降低其初始阶段（natal stages）遭遇捕食的风险。然而，这类反捕食响应可能会带来诸多与生活史相关的代价。值得注意的是，幼虫阶段捕食风险对成虫扩散——这一决定空间结构化种群存续的关键性状——的影响，迄今仍未得到充分研究。本研究以淡色库蚊（Culex pipiens）为对象，探究了幼虫捕食风险对其雌成虫生活史与扩散特征的影响。正如预期，在笼养食幼虫鱼类环境中饲养的蚊幼虫会提早变态，同时存活率也有所下降。尽管发育时长有所缩短，但羽化雌蚊的体型却更大，这意味着更多资源被分配用于提升生长速率，大概率是以降低维持与存储能力为代价。这种能量分配的转变也导致了蛹与成虫的存活率下降。值得注意的是，这类体型更大的雌蚊其扩散距离也更远。我们认为，扩散距离的提升使得这些雌蚊在搜寻比原生水生栖息地更安全的产卵场所时，能够覆盖更广的范围。探究幼虫生存条件对成虫扩散的影响，对于理解复杂生活周期生物在空间异质性环境中的分布格局至关重要，同时也对解析蚊媒疾病的传播机制具有重要意义。