Abstract: When faced with a population of a pest, we typically focus on the goal of density reduction of that pest; however, consideration of basic population ecology indicates that population density can have complicated and interactive effects that may mean simple reduction of density could be counterproductive. Our work on mosquitoes shows: 1) how density of larvae has important trait-mediated effects on adults, which may affect likelihood of disease transmission; 2) mechanisms by which density dependent survivorship interacts with extrinsic mortality to yield greater production of adults than would be the case without mortality; and 3) that these counter intuitive effects are likely in nature. Focusing on the complexities of basic population ecology may improve strategies for controlling both mosquitoes and vector-borne disease.
