Methods to Assess Blood and Nectar Meals in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

Male and female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes survive by feeding on floral nectar for metabolic energy, but females require blood protein, obtained from biting a host, for egg development. Although males exclusively derive energy from nectar sugars, females must select the meal that best matches their present metabolic and reproductive needs. In females, blood and nectar promote independent feeding behaviors with distinct sensory appendages, meal sizes, digestive tract targets, and metabolic fates. Understanding how male and female mosquitoes recognize, locate, and metabolize nutrients is essential for characterizing the survival and reproductive capabilities of this mosquito. Here, we provide an introduction to blood versus nectar feeding and methods to quantify nectar and blood meal sizes in individual Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. Precise quantification of meal size is crucial for ensuring consistency in assays that record events downstream of feeding behavior, including host attraction or fecundity.