Both consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators impact mosquito populations and have implications for disease transmission

Predator-prey interactions influence prey traits through both consumptive
and non-consumptive effects, and variation in these traits can shape
vector-borne disease dynamics. Meta-analysis methods were employed to
generate predation effect sizes by different categories of predators and
mosquito prey. This analysis showed that multiple families of aquatic
predators are effective in consumptively reducing mosquito survival, and
that the survival of Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex mosquitoes is negatively
impacted by consumptive effects of predators. Mosquito larval size was
found to play a more important role in explaining the heterogeneity of
consumptive effects from predators than mosquito genus. Mosquito survival
and body size were reduced by non-consumptive effects of predators, but
development time was not significantly impacted. In addition, Culex
vectors demonstrated predator avoidance behavior during oviposition. The
results of this meta-analysis suggest that predators limit disease
transmission by reducing both vector survival and vector size, and that
associations between drought and human West Nile virus cases could be
driven by the vector behavior of predator avoidance during oviposition.
These findings are likely to be useful to infectious disease modelers who
rely on vector traits as predictors of transmission.