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10-Minute Presentation

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

10-min: MUVE, Mosquito Biology and Ecology

Fantastic feasts and where to find them: Plant preference among mosquitoes of the Greater Salt Lake area

Wednesday, November 12, 2025
9:54 AM - 10:06 AM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, C123, OCC
Oral Presentation
Mosquitoes, like many other insects, are dependent on plant-derived nutrients as adults. Arid lands in particular create a challenge for mosquitoes to find resources consistently. In the United States, the arid, high elevation floodplains around the Great Salt Lake present a rich environment where salt desert shrublands meet alkaline freshwater wetlands, while plant communities contain a diversity of native and invasive flower species. We investigated survivorship on a cohort of seasonal flowering plants found through the aforementioned habitats Endemic mosquito species in the field were also sampled for frequency of having been caught while sugar-fed across an urban-to-rural gradient for the season. Flower phenology data was contrasted to the abundance of sugar-fed mosquitoes from the wild. The short-lived blooming intervals in the arid landscape result in time periods when both flower sightings and sugar feeding in mosquitoes is low, highlighting elevated risks to exposure and malnutrition for wild populations. Sustainable research and management of mosquitoes requires answers to basic biological and ecological questions such as flower dependence and resource scarcity in the field.