A simplified membrane technique for feeding blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) on blood in the laboratory

In order to overcome the difficulties of colonizing Simuliidae in the laboratory, a membrane system has been developed which was successfully used to feed Simulium vittatum and S. verecundum on out-dated human whole blood. Thirty-seven (41.1%) of 90 S. vittatum and 4 (8.6%) of 46 S. verecundum took blood meals in 6 trials. The membrane system was also shown to be more effective and consistent in providing blood meals compared with the use of laboratory animals.