Journal of Vector Ecology (2012) 37, 351-358

Caroline Dantas de Oliveira, Wanderli Pedro Tadei, Fábio Camargo Abdalla, Paulo Filemon Paolucci Pimenta and Osvaldo Marinotti (2012)
Multiple blood meals in Anopheles darlingi (Diptera: Culicidae)
Journal of Vector Ecology 37 (2), 351-358
Abstract: Anopheles darlingi is an important vector of human malaria in the Amazon. Adult females of this mosquito species require a blood meal to develop eggs, preferring humans to other blood sources. Although gonotrophic concordance has been described as the norm for An. darlingi, here we report An. darlingi female mosquitoes taking two or more blood meals within their first gonotrophic cycle. Only half of field-captured adult females fed one blood meal developed follicles to Christophers' stage V. This outcome is dependent on larval nutrition, as 88% of laboratory-raised well-nourished females completed the first gonotrophic cycle with only one blood meal, while less nourished females needed additional blood meals. Half of the field-captured blood-seeking An. darlingi females had follicles in intermediate (IIIa and IIIb) and final (V) stages of the gonotrophic cycle, supporting the conclusion that An. darlingi blood feed more than once during a gonotrophic cycle. Additionally, we observed females attempting to blood feed a second time during the same day. Additional studies of An. darlingi biting behavior are necessary to accurately estimate Plasmodium sp. entomologic inoculation rates throughout the An. darlingi vast geographical distribution.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Osvaldo Marinotti, Paulo Filemon Paolucci Pimenta

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anopheles darlingi		Brazil (NW)