An effective indoor mesocosm for studying populations of Anopheles gambiae in temperate climates

To study the indoor behavior of Anopheles gambiae populations in a temperate climate, we have devised a walk-in mesocosm, built within a greenhouse. The structure provides conditions more natural than laboratory cages, including sufficient room for swarming and for flight between resting sites, sugar-bearing plants, a human host, and an oviposition site. These activities impose energy demands closer to those encountered in the field. The structure also has predators, fluctuating temperatures, natural daylight, and an evening crepuscular period. Most important, its resting sites comprise a bank of tubes that can be inspected or removed individually to obtain, at regular time intervals, random representative samples of an experimental population while all individuals are inactive. Samples from aging cohorts of mosquitoes, released at emergence, can yield information on behavioral sequences, mate competition, reproductive success, and survival under different nutritional regimes.