Abstract
Blood-feeding behavior and survivorship of individual Anopheles gambiae Giles females were observed daily in cohorts with either access to sugar (n = 76) or without sugar (n = 80). Individual mosquitoes were allowed to feed daily on an anesthetized mouse. Mosquitoes provided with sugar lived on average almost 3 d longer than females without sugar (19.0 versus 16.2 d). After stratification by age, mosquitoes in the youngest (5-12 d) and middle (13-19 d) age strata showed no differences in blood-feeding patterns relative to sugar availability. However, mosquitoes from the oldest age group and no access to sugar had more total blood feeds than long-lived females (≥20 d) with access to sugar (9.8 versus 6.5). Furthermore, mosquitoes ≥20 d old and without sugar available had a higher blood-feeding frequency than females that had sugar available (0.36 versus 0.25 blood meals per female per day). The enhanced blood-feeding capability among older sugar-deprived An. gambiae emphasized the close association between sugar-feeding and blood-feeding behavior and the potential consequences for the transmission of malaria parasites and other pathogens.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 608-612 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of medical entomology |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1996 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Anopheles gambiae
- Blood feeding
- Sugar feeding
- Survivorship
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Insect Science
- veterinary(all)
