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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Feeding and Quantifying Animal-Derived Blood and Artificial Meals in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes
Published on: October 22, 2020
Blood meal identification of selected mosquitoes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Elias Seixas Lorosa1, Mariana Santos Faria, Luiz Cláudio Motta de Oliveira
1National and International Laboratory of Reference in Taxonomy of Triatominae, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Abstract:
ABSTRACT. The blood meal sources of 5 species (Mansonia titillans, Aedes scapularis, Culex quinquefasciatus, Coquillettidia shannoni, and Anopheles peryassui) collected in Conceição do Macacu, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, were examined with the precipitin test. Of the 1,128 mosquitoes collected, 907 (80.4%) reacted to some antisera. Although all 5 species were eclectic in their feeding habits, Ma. titillans and Ae. scapularis fed mostly on birds, while Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cq. shannoni, and An. peryassui fed mostly on bovines. Proportions of mosquitoes feeding on 1 source varied from 60.0% (Ae. scapularis) to 87.7% (Ma. titillans), while that of mosquitoes feeding on > 1 source varied from 12.2% (Ma. titillans) to 34.4% (Ae. scapularis). Epidemiological implications of the feeding and their potential involvements in the transmission of arboviruses are commented upon.
