Insecticide Exposure Bioassay and Metabolomics for Culex Larvae

Culex quinquefasciatus larvae were exposed to standard bioassays using the diagnostic dose (DD) of the technical grade insecticides: chlorpyrifos 99.5% (0.001 μg/mL), temephos 97.5% (0.002 μg/mL) and permethrin 99.5% (0.01 μg/mL) (ChemService, West Chester, PA) [52 (link), 53 (link)]. Three replicates of each insecticide were prepared in standard (weight/volume) alcohol solution. Control groups were placed in recipients containing water and 1 mL of alcohol. After 24 h of insecticide exposure all larvae that were found alive were separated from dead ones. The alive larvae were placed individually in 1.5 mL tubes at -80°C for the metabolomics analysis. At the same time and as the same way, unexposed larvae of Cx. quinquefasciatus were stored.