Pragmatic selection of larval mosquito diets for insectary rearing of Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti

PLoS One. 2020 Mar 11;15(3):e0221838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221838. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Larval mosquitoes are aquatic omnivorous scavengers which scrape food from submerged surfaces and collect suspended food particles with their mouth brushes. The composition of diets that have been used in insectaries varies widely though necessarily provides sufficient nutrition to allow colonies to be maintained. Issues such as cost, availability and experience influence which diet is selected. One component of larval diets, essential fatty acids, appears to be necessary for normal flight though deficiencies may not be evident in laboratory cages and are likely more important when mosquitoes are reared for release into the field in e.g. mark-release-recapture and genetic control activities. In this study, four diets were compared for rearing Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti, all of which provide these essential fatty acids. Two diets were custom formulations specifically designed for mosquitoes (Damiens) and two were commercially available fish foods: Doctors Foster and Smith Koi Staple Diet and TetraMin Plus Flakes. Development rate, survival, dry weight and adult longevity of mosquitoes reared with these four diets were measured. The method of presentation of one diet, Koi pellets, was additionally fed in two forms, pellets or a slurry, to determine any effect of food presentation on survival and development rate. While various criteria might be selected to choose 'the best' food, the readily-available Koi pellets resulted in development rates and adult longevity equal to the other diets, high survival to the adult stage and, additionally, this is available at low cost.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / growth & development*
  • Animals
  • Anopheles / growth & development*
  • Body Weight
  • Diet / economics
  • Diet / methods*
  • Fatty Acids, Essential
  • Female
  • Food / economics
  • Housing, Animal / economics
  • Larva / growth & development*
  • Longevity
  • Male
  • Survival Rate
  • Temperature
  • Water

Substances

  • Fatty Acids, Essential
  • Water

Grants and funding

MQB, EMD, and CMT are paid employees of Target Malaria, a project that receives core funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from the Open Philanthropy Project Fund, an advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation to the Target Malaria project, PI Austin Burt. MV and KG are paid employees of Frontier Scientific Services which supplied the formulation to the CDC with the understanding that the experimental design and diet comparisons would not be influenced by the potential for commercialization. Frontier kindly formulated the diet and provided it without charge for these comparisons. MV and KG reviewed the manuscript for style and accuracy. The following reagents were obtained through the NIH Biodefense and Emerging Infections Research Resources Repository, NIAID, NIH: An. gambiae, strain ‘G3’ (MRA-112) and Ae. aegypti ‘New Orleans’ strain (NR-49160). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.