Mosquito Feeding Assay: A Method to Evaluate Test Compound Effects on Mortality and Fecundity of Adult Female Mosquitoes

Begin the mosquito feeding assay by preparing a blood meal, adding the desired concentration of an active test compound into defibrinated rabbit blood. The blood meal lacks fibrin, preventing blood clotting.

Load this blood meal into a membrane-feeding unit's delivery port. Attach it to a heating unit, maintaining the blood at an optimum temperature. Coat the membrane with the lactic acid solution.

Place this unit in a cage having adult, pre-starved female mosquitoes to increase the chances of feeding. Incubate in the dark. Lactic acid attracts mosquitoes toward the feeding unit. Dark conditions encourage them to feed.

Transfer the blood-fed mosquitoes into a growth chamber. After digestion of the blood meal, the active test compound enters the mosquito's body, affecting various organs and causing some to die.

Count the number of dead mosquitoes and calculate the mortality rate. Evaluate the effect of the test chemical on the reproductive system of surviving mosquitoes by introducing an egg cup in the chamber.

Female mosquitoes utilize proteins from the blood meal and lay eggs, which get collected inside the cup. Count the number of eggs, estimating the decrease in fecundity - egg-laying capability.

High mortality and low fecundity correspond to the compound's insecticidal capacity.