Grading Anoph€l€s Arabiensis: Their Gorging and Surviving Responses Using a Membrane Feeding System

literature on artificial membrone feeding has traditionally supported the notion that mosquitoes have to be enough old to present a high gorging rote and enough young to present o high surviving rote In order to know the best mosquito age to perform a Plasmodium sp experimental infection revealed by oocyst examination, Anopheles orabiensis of known ages were fed on baudruche membrone with fresh human blood thermostoted at 37 "C The response was evaluated in term of gorging after ten minutes in contact with the membrane feeder and, for engorged females, in term of SUIVIVOI eight days after the engorgement Two strains of mosquitoes were used, one wild, collected at larval stages in the cih/ of Dakar and the other, originating from the some place but reared in our insectary since three years The IWO strains showed their highest gorging rote at 3-4 days after emergence (39 4 % for the wild strain and 63 3 % for the insectary strain) The survival rote of the wild strain was highest at 2-3-4 days after emergence (64,8%) and those of the insectary strain at four days (65 6 %) In conclusion, the gorging mosquitoes would have to be aged of 3-4 doys ofter emergence for the wild strain and of four doys for the insectary strain in order to obtoin eight doys after the engorging the best output of fed ond surviving mosquitoes