Glytube: A Conical Tube and Parafilm M-Based Method as a Simplified Device to Artificially Blood-Feed the Dengue Vector Mosquito, Aedes aegypti
Open Access
- 14 January 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 8 (1), e53816
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053816
Abstract
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.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- A novel mosquito feeding system for routine blood-feeding of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.2012
- Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing and ResearchPLOS ONE, 2011
- The Brazilian Legal Framework on the Scientific Use of AnimalsILAR Journal, 2011
- Feeding response of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles dirus (Diptera: Culicidae) using out-of-date human blood in a membrane feeding apparatusJournal of Vector Ecology, 2010
- Feeding through artificial membranes reduces fecundity for females of the blood-feeding insect, Rhodnius prolixusArchives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 2010
- Natural odor ligands for olfactory receptor neurons of the female mosquito Aedes aegypti: use of gas chromatography-linked single sensillum recordingsJournal of Experimental Biology, 2008
- Protocol for Dengue Infections in Mosquitoes (A. aegypti) and Infection Phenotype DeterminationJournal of Visualized Experiments, 2007
- VERSATILE BLOOD BAGS FOR LABORATORY FEEDING OF MOSQUITOESJournal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 2007
- Artificial feeding of ixodid ticksParasitology Today, 1996
- A new feeding technique for experimental and routine culturing of the insect Rhodnius prolixusCanadian Journal of Zoology, 1994