Mosquito Larvae and Pupae Transport from the Field
- Diego Ayala1,2,6,
- John J. Shepard3,6 and
- Noah H. Rose4,5,6
- 1MIVEGEC, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier BP 64501, 34394, France
- 2Medical Entomology Unit, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo BP1274, 101, Madagascar
- 3Department of Entomology and Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
- 4Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
- 5Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
- ↵6Correspondence: noahr{at}princeton.edu; John.shepard{at}ct.gov; diego.ayala{at}ird.fr
Abstract
Laboratory study of field-collected mosquitoes can allow researchers to better understand the ways variation within and among mosquito populations shapes burdens of mosquito-borne disease. The Anopheles gambiae complex comprises the most important vectors of malaria, but it can be challenging to keep in the laboratory. For some species of mosquitoes, especially An. gambiae, it is very difficult to bring viable eggs into the laboratory. Instead, it is preferable to collect larvae or pupae and then transport them as carefully as possible back to the laboratory. This simple protocol allows a researcher to start new laboratory colonies from larvae or pupae collected from natural breeding sites or proceed directly to their planned experiments. The use of natural breeding sites provides additional reassurance that the resulting colonies are representative of natural populations.
Footnotes
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From the Mosquitoes collection, edited by Laura B. Duvall and Benjamin J. Matthews.
