Fish microbiota repel ovipositing mosquitoes

The mere presence of predators causes prey organisms to display predation-avoidance strategies. Predator presence is often communicated through predator-released chemical signals. Ovipositing female mosquitoes of several species are repelled by unknown signals released from larvivorous fish. It was previously suggested that in many cases, a predator’s microbiota plays an important role in the release of these signals; however, this mechanism is still poorly understood. In this study, we looked into the effects of the microbiota originating from the larvivorous Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard) on the oviposition behavior of gravid female mosquitoes. We used fish with altered microbiota and bacterial isolates in a set of outdoor mesocosm experiments to address this aim. We show that interference with the fish microbiota significantly reduces fish’s repellant effect. We further show that the bacterium Pantoea pleuroti, isolated from the skin of the fish, repels oviposition of Culex lati..., , , # Fish microbiota repel ovipositing mosquitoes

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9p8cz8wqf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9p8cz8wqf)

The dataset includes data from 4 field experiments described in Figures 2-5. It includes the distribution of mosquito egg rafts from two species, *Culex laticinctus* and *Culiseta logiareolata*. Egg rafts were collected from pools as described in the method section.

## Description of the data and file structure

Data describes the total number of egg rafts collected over all dates in each of the pools. Each pool is a combination of “block” and “treatment” variables. The other columns present the dependent variables, i.e., total number of egg rafts for each mosquito species. Experimental duration is presented at the bottom and consists of beginning and ending dates plus the total day count.