SUBSTITUTE BLOOD MEAL FOR INVESTIGATING AND MAINTAINING AEDES-AEGYPTI (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

A defined substitute blood meal has been developed for feeding Aedes aegypti (L.), a mosquito that normally requires a vertebrate blood meal to produce eggs. This substitute blood meal is a simple mixture of proteins, with salts and adenosine triphosphate added to induce gorging. Protein appears to be the only nutritional requirement. The mixture consists of gamma-globulins to initiate the hormonal responses necessary for normal egg development, hemoglobin as a visual marker of feeding, and albumin as a concentrated source of protein to achieve egg yields equivalent to those from blood-fed controls. Ae. aegypti has been reared successfully for eight generations on this substitute blood meal.