Evaluation of Blood-feeding Methods for Rearing Dengue Mosquito, Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae)

Maintaining a mosquito colony for rearing is essential in research, and the rearing of mosquitoes in the laboratory requires blood as a protein source for females to produce eggs. The use of live animals for blood-feeding imposes ethical considerations and entails an additional laboratory for rearing the live animals. In this study, we have established an artificial blood-feeding system for Aedes aegypti that took into consideration the effects of four factors on blood-feeding – namely, egg source colony, blood source, age of females, and heating intervals. For the quality control tests, all parameters tested did not significantly differ between colonies after 14 generations. In terms of egg source, more adult females significantly fed from pig blood (PB) colonies (78%) than live mice (LM) colonies. In terms of blood source, more adult females (85%) fed on immobilized LM than in the artificial blood-feeding system with PB as a blood source. In terms of age, 3- and 5-d-old females showed the highest % blood-feeding (75–78%), fecundity, fertility, and recoveries compared to when females were fed very young at 1 d old and quite old at 7 d old. Among the heating intervals tested, re-heating PB every 60 min for 4 h showed the highest % of females fed (66%). All four factors significantly explain the variation in the % blood-feeding efficiency of female mosquitoes and, therefore, important factors to consider in mosquito colony maintenance. We also conclude that the established artificial blood-feeding system can be used for rearing Ae. aegypti. The results of the study may encourage laboratories in other institutes that conduct mosquito colony maintenance to seek inexpensive, effective, and locally-available artificial blood-feeding systems.