title: The measurement of blood meal size in Aedes aegypti (L.).
abstract: Three techniques of estimating blood meal volumes (gravimetric, radioisotope counting and haemoglobin estimation) were compared in adult female Aedes aegypti fed on a cat. Aedes aegypti ingested a mean volume of 2.37 ul, 2.44 ul and 2.57 ul as measured by gravimetric, radioisotope and haemoglobin estimation techniques respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (P greater than 0.05, n = 58). Neither calendar age (post-eclosion) nor strain differences appear to influence blood meal intake but a smaller amount of blood was ingested after a single gonotrophic cycle. The relative merits of the techniques are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007303:Insect Vectors