Artificial Membrane Feeding Mosquitoes in the Laboratory with Glytube

Abstract

Artificial membrane feeders are devices that replace vertebrate hosts when blood feeding mosquitoes. Created using readily available materials found in mosquito laboratories, Glytube is one of the simplest artificial membrane feeders that scientists can use to provide a blood meal to female mosquitoes in the laboratory. Glytube was optimized for blood feeding the main epidemiologically important species, such as Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles aquasalis. Although the Glytube can be used without modifications to blood feed mosquito females, some researchers have modified the device to improve its assembly and to adapt it to different feeding assays that do not involve a basic blood meal, broadening its utility. Here, I describe how to transform a 50-mL conical centrifuge tube into a convenient, versatile, and cost-effective artificial membrane blood feeder.