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Background  Mosquitoes are vectors for diseases such as dengue, malaria and La Crosse virus that significantly impact the human population. When multiple mosquito species are present, the competition between species may alter population dynamics as well as disease spread. Two mosquito species,  Aedes albopictus  and  Aedes triseriatus , both inhabit areas where La Crosse virus is found. Infection of  Aedes albopictus  by the parasite  Ascogregarina taiwanensis  and  Aedes triseriatus  by the parasite  Ascogregarina barretti  can decrease a mosquito’s fitness, respectively. In particular, the decrease in fitness of  Aedes albopictus  occurs through the impact of  Ascogregarina taiwanensis  on female fecundity, larval development rate, and larval mortality and may impact its initial competitive advantage over  Aedes triseriatus  during invasion.    Methods  We examine the effects of parasitism of gregarine parasites on  Aedes albopictus  and  triseriatus  population dynamics and competition with a focus on when  Aedes albopictus  is new to an area. We build a compartmental model including competition between  Aedes albopictus  and  triseriatus  while under parasitism of the gregarine parasites. Using parameters based on the literature, we simulate the dynamics and analyze the equilibrium population proportion of the two species. We consider the presence of both parasites and potential dilution effects.    Results  We show that increased levels of parasitism in  Aedes albopictus  will decrease the initial competitive advantage of the species over  Aedes triseriatus  and increase the survivorship of  Aedes triseriatus . We find  Aedes albopictus  is better able to invade when there is more extreme parasitism of  Aedes triseriatus . Furthermore, although the transient dynamics differ, dilution of the parasite density through uptake by both species does not alter the equilibrium population sizes of either species.    Conclusions  Mosquito population dynamics are affected by many factors, such as abiotic factors (e.g. temperature and humidity) and competition between mosquito species. This is especially true when multiple mosquito species are vying to live in the same area. Knowledge of how population dynamics are affected by gregarine parasites among competing species can inform future mosquito control efforts and help prevent the spread of vector-borne disease.

Parasitism of Aedes albopictus by Ascogregarina taiwanensis lowers its competitive ability against Aedes triseriatus