The Ae. aegypti were grown as per Bohbot’s et al. methodology subjected to 12 h daylight and 12 h dark environment cycles while being fed with 10 w/w% sucrose solution in water through a cotton ball (17 (link)). Dried Ae. aegypti eggs were hatched in water and fed with crab food through their larval phase in the same environmental conditions as the mature mosquitoes. Pupae were collected and placed in developmental cages to reach maturity with sucrose feed changed every 48 h. Mature mosquitoes were transferred to experimental cages and split according to the needs of each treatment. Table 1 outlines the population in each cage for the artificial feeding experiments of Ae. aegypti.
For the in vivo experiments on human hand, the mosquitoes were frozen immediately after the experiment allowing monitoring of blood swelling in females thus improving the count. For the artificial membrane (Hemotek) experiments, the mosquitoes were fed ad-libitum for 1 h in the lab environment (20–23 C and a relative humidity between 40% and 50%) and immediately placed back in the incubators with a 10 wt.% sucrose solution replaced every 24 h to feed on.
For the in vivo experiments on human hand, the mosquitoes were frozen immediately after the experiment allowing monitoring of blood swelling in females thus improving the count. For the artificial membrane (Hemotek) experiments, the mosquitoes were fed ad-libitum for 1 h in the lab environment (20–23 C and a relative humidity between 40% and 50%) and immediately placed back in the incubators with a 10 wt.% sucrose solution replaced every 24 h to feed on.
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