Wolbachia infection and expression of cytoplasmic incompatibility in Armigeres subalbatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Polymerase chain reaction screening revealed that Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett), a vector of filariasis, was infected with the intracellular bacteria Wolbachia. Laboratory crosses between infected males and uninfected females resulted in less than half the number of offspring than control crosses between uninfected individuals when young (2-to 3-d-old) males were used in the cross. However, incompatibility was lost when old (14-to 17-d-old) males were used. Field-collected females did not show detectable cytoplasmic incompatibility, and this may be because of the age at which males mate in the field. We used head pigment fluorescence levels to age field males collected from mating swarms, and found that 2.5-63% of swarming males were older than 13 d. Male age may be one factor influencing the observed low levels of cytoplasmic incompatibility detected in the field.