Proboscis amputation has facilitated the study of mosquito behavior. Using humans as a host is very important in the study of mosquito attractants, repellents, and host preference. However, mosquito bites cause potential medical problems because of hypersensitivity and perhaps secondary bacterial infection, even using laboratory mosquitoes. Moreover, once a normal female mosquito bites and feeds on human blood, it cannot be used in subsequent probing tests. These problems were resolved by proboscis amputation. Variation of attraction among humans was examined effectively without bites using proboscis-amputatedAedes albopictusSkuse. Proboscis-amputated and normal mosquitoes also showed equal repellency against 1% L-lactic acid. Although the mosquitoes lacked the tip of the labium and some sensilla, they alighted on human forearms in the same way as normal mosquitoes. Because proboscis-amputated mosquitoes continued to probe avidly, they could be used repeatedly, thereby reducing the number of mosquitoes required for experimentation. The use of proboscis-amputated mosquitoes would promote various studies of mosquito attraction or repellency with no risk of hypersensitivity and secondary bacterial infection by mosquito bites.
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1 July 2000
Proboscis Amputation Facilitates the Study of Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Attractants, Repellents, and Host Preference
Yoshikazu Shirai,
Kiyoshi Kamimura,
Taisuke Seki,
Masaaki Morohashi
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Journal of Medical Entomology
Vol. 37 • No. 4
July 2000
Vol. 37 • No. 4
July 2000
Aedes albopictus
alightment
Bite
mosquito attractant
mosquito repellent
proboscis amputation