Last Updated: 16/05/2024
Insects feeding insects: a hemolymph-based mosquito diet
Objectives
To produce an insect-based diet for breeding adult malaria-transmitting Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes in the laboratory.
Principal Institution
Principal Investigators / Focal Persons
Rationale and Abstract
Laboratory mosquitoes are most effectively bred for research using mammalian blood meals, which has numerous limitations including higher costs and requiring human volunteers with stringent regulations. It is known that some mosquitoes can produce viable eggs after feeding on soft-bodied insect larvae such as lepidopteran larvae. They will screen a selection of larvae to identify the most palatable insect-based diets, and evaluate them for effect on mosquito survival, fecundity and offspring viability compared to mosquitoes reared on blood-based diets.
External reference
Themes
Date
Nov 2015
Funding Details
Gates Foundation (GF), United States
Grand Challenges Explorations. Surveillance Tools, Diagnostics and an Artificial Diet to Support New Approaches to Vector Control (Round 15)
Project Site
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