Glytube: a conical tube and parafilm M-based method as a simplified device to artificially blood-feed the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti.
Aedes aegypti, the main vector of dengue virus, requires a blood meal to produce eggs. Although live animals are still the main blood source for laboratory colonies, many artificial feeders are available. These feeders are also the best method for experimental oral infection of Ae. aegypti with Dengue viruses. However, most of them are expensive or laborious to construct. Based on principle of Rutledge-type feeder, a conventional conical tube, glycerol and Parafilm-M were used to develop a simple in-house feeder device. The blood feeding efficiency of this apparatus was compared to a live blood source, mice, and no significant differences (p = 0.1189) were observed between artificial-fed (51.3% of engorgement) and mice-fed groups (40.6%). Thus, an easy to assemble and cost-effective artificial feeder, designated "Glytube" was developed in this report. This simple and efficient feeding device can be built with common laboratory materials for research on Ae. aegypti.
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. alcosta@icb.usp.br
André Luis
AL
Costa-da-Silva
Flávia Rosa
FR
Navarrete
Felipe Scassi
FS
Salvador
Maria
M
Karina-Costa
Rafaella Sayuri
RS
Ioshino
Diego Soares
DS
Azevedo
Desirée Rafaela
DR
Rocha
Camila Malta
CM
Romano
Margareth Lara
ML
Capurro
D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001802:Blood Substitutes; D003715:Dengue / Q000635:transmission*; D005248:Feeding Methods / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D051379:Mice; D010232:Paraffin
D001802:Blood Substitutes; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010232:Paraffin