ORIGINAL PAPER Haemoproteus infections (Haemosporida, Haemoproteidae) kill bird-biting mosquitoes Gediminas Valkiūnas & Rita Kazlauskienė & Rasa Bernotienė & Dovilė Bukauskaitė & Vaidas Palinauskas & Tatjana A. Iezhova Received: 4 November 2013 /Accepted: 27 November 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract Haemoproteus parasites (Haemosporida, Haemoproteidae) are widespread; some species cause severe diseases in avian hosts. Heavy Haemoproteus infections are often lethal for biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), which trans- mit avian haemoproteids, but there is no information regard- ing detrimental effect on other blood-sucking insects. We examined effects of Haemoproteus tartakovskyi (lineage hSISKIN1), Haemoproteus lanii (lineages hRB1and hRBS2) and Haemoproteus balmorali (lineage hCOLL3) on the survival of Ochlerotatus cantans , a widespread Eurasian mosquito. Wild-caught females were infected by allowing them to feed on naturally infected birds with light (0.01 %) and high (3.0–9.6 %) parasitaemia. Mosquitoes fed on unin- fected birds were used as controls. Both experimental and control groups were maintained under the same laboratory conditions until 20 days post-exposure (dpe). Dead insects were counted daily and used for parasitological examination and PCR-based testing. No difference was discernible in the survival rate of control mosquitoes and those fed on meal with light parasitaemia. There was a highly significant difference in the survival rate between the control group and all groups fed on meals with high parasitaemia, with the greatest mortality reported 1–3 dpe. For 4 dpe, the percentage of survived control mosquitoes (88 %) was 2.2-, 3.6- and 4-fold greater than that of groups fed on meals with high parasitaemia of H. balmorali , H. tartakovskyi and H. lanii , respectively. Numerous ookinetes were observed in the gut area and adja- cent tissues located in the head, thorax and abdomen of infected insects 0.5–1 dpe. The migrating parasites damage organs throughout the entire body of mosquitoes; that is the main reason of mortality. To the end of this study, 46 % of mosquitoes survived in control group, but the survival rates of experimental mosquitoes fed on meals with high parasitaemia were between 2.6- and 5.8-fold lower. This study indicates that widespread Haemoproteus infections are markedly viru- lent for bird-biting mosquitoes, which rapidly die after feeding on heavily infected blood meals. Introduction Species of Haemoproteus (Haemosporida, Haemoproteidae) are widespread in birds all over the world, with infection prevalence exceeding 30 % in many terrestrial bird popula- tions (Greiner et al. 1975; McClure et al. 1978; Peirce 1981; Valkiūnas et al. 2003; Pérez-Tris et al. 2007; Shurulinkov and Ilieva 2009). Some haemoproteids cause severe diseases in avian hosts and affect their fitness (Atkinson et al. 1988; Merino et al. 2000; Marzal et al. 2005; Cannell et al. 2013). However, little is known about the effects of Haemoproteus infections on blood-sucking insects. Valkiūnas and Iezhova (2004) reported mortality of the biting midge Culicoides impunctatus (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) associated with ex- perimental infections of Haemoproteus belopolskyi , Haemoproteus fringillae and Haemoproteus lanii . This biting midge transmits several species of Haemoproteus in Europe (Valkiūnas 2005). However, effects of haemoproteids on mos- quitoes and other bird-biting insects are insufficiently investigated. Mosquitoes do not transmit Haemoproteus parasites and should be not adapted to this infection (Garnham 1966; Ejiri et al. 2009; Kim et al. 2009; Santiago-Alarcon et al. 2012). A recent experimental study (Valkiūnas et al. 2013) showed that several species of Haemoproteus develop numerous ookinetes and early oocysts throughout the entire body of mosquitoes Ochlerotatus cantans ; these parasites do not G. Valkiūnas (*) : R. Kazlauskienė : R. Bernotienė : D. Bukauskaitė : V. Palinauskas : T. A. Iezhova Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, Vilnius 2100 08412, Lithuania e-mail: gedvalk@ekoi.lt Parasitol Res DOI 10.1007/s00436-013-3733-4