Attempts were made to use pteridine fluorescence levels as a tool for aging individual Aedes polynesiensis Marks and Culex quinquefasciatus Say mosquitoes. Fluorescent pigments were extracted and quantified with techniques and apparatus (i.e., a spectrofluorometer) that can be used in developing countries or in field laboratories, and that has already given consistent results in similar studies on other insect groups. However, for Ae. polynesiensis as well as Cx. quinquefasciatus, individual fluorescence measurements were mostly below the spectrofluorometer white noise level. With batches of Aedes or Culex of the same age, significant fluorescence levels were recorded but not in relation to their calendar ages. The low content of pteridines in mosquitoes suggests that standard spectrofluorometry is not sufficiently sensitive for such studies.
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1 September 2000
Spectrofluorometers Are Not Adequate for Aging Aedes and Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) Using Pteridine Fluorescence
Frédéric Lardeux,
André Ung,
Maurice Chebret
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Journal of Medical Entomology
Vol. 37 • No. 5
September 2000
Vol. 37 • No. 5
September 2000
Aedes polynesiensis
age-grading
Culex quinquefasciatus
fluorescence
pteridines
spectrofluorometry