Abstract
The “Sterile Insect Technique” (SIT), a promising method to control Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is gaining increasing interest. Recently, the role of microbiota in mosquito fitness received attention, but the link between microbiota and larval diet in mass rearing programs for SIT remains largely unexplored. We characterized the microbiota of four larval instars, pupae and eggs of non-wild (NW) lab-reared Ae. albopictus fed with a diet based on Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae powder and fish food KOI pellets. We compared it with wild (W) field-collected individuals and the bacterial community occurring in rearing water-diet (DIET). A total of 18 bacterial classes with > 0.10% abundance were found overall in the samples, with seven classes being especially abundant. Overall, the microbiota profile significantly differed among NW, W and DIET. Verrucomicrobiae were significantly more abundant in W and DIET, Bacteroidia were more abundant in NW and DIET, and Gammaproteobacteria were only more abundant in W than in DIET. W-eggs microbiota differed from all the other groups. Large differences also appeared at the bacterial genus-level, with the abundance of 14 genera differing among groups. Three ASVs of Acinetobacter, known to have positive effects on tiger mosquitoes, were more abundant in NW than in W, while Serratia, known to have negative or neutral effects on another Aedes species, was less abundant in NW than in W. The bacterial community of W-eggs was the richest in species, while dominance and diversity did not differ among groups. Our data show that the diet based on Black soldier fly powder and fish food KOI influences the microbiota of NW tiger mosquito immature stages, but not in a way that may suggest a negative impact on their quality in SIT programs.