title: The Influence of Diet on the Use of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Determine the Age of Female Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes.
abstract: Interventions targeting adult mosquitoes are used to combat transmission of vector-borne diseases, including dengue. Without available vaccines, targeting the primary vector, Aedes aegypti, is essential to prevent transmission. Older mosquitoes (≥ 7 days) are of greatest epidemiological significance due to the 7-day extrinsic incubation period of the virus. Age-grading of female mosquitoes is necessary to identify post-intervention changes in mosquito population age structure. We developed models using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to age-grade adult female Ae. aegypti. To determine if diet affects the ability of NIRS models to predict age, two identical larval groups were fed either fish food or infant cereal. Adult females were separated and fed sugar water ± blood, resulting in four experimental groups. Females were killed 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, or 16 days postemergence. The head/thorax of each mosquito was scanned using a near-infrared spectrometer. Scans from each group were analyzed, and multiple models were developed using partial least squares regression. The best model included all experimental groups, and positively predicted the age group (< or ≥ 7 days) of 90.2% mosquitoes. These results suggest both larval and adult diets can affect the ability of NIRS models to accurately assign age categories to female Ae. aegypti.
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas wuq4@cdc.gov.
authors: Kelly
authors: K
authors: Liebman
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas.
authors: Isabel
authors: I
authors: Swamidoss
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas.
authors: Lucrecia
authors: L
authors: Vizcaino
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas.
authors: Audrey
authors: A
authors: Lenhart
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas.
authors: Floyd
authors: F
authors: Dowell
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Wirtz
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D003715:Dengue / Q000821:virology*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013997:Time Factors