RETRACTED ARTICLE: Histologic parameters for detecting multiple blood meals in Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) during a single gonotrophic cycle

Abeer S. Yamany, Fatma K. Adham, Heinz Mehlhorn

The histologic technique was used for its usefulness in detecting multiple blood feedings in Aedes albopictus during a single gonotrophic cycle. In a laboratory study, in which 200 blood-engorged Ae. albopictus mosquito females during a 3-day period were examined, 69% (138/200) of these females imbibed two blood meals when the interval between meals was from 8 to 48 h and the time between the second blood meal and fixation ranged from 0 to 32 h. At the interval outside this range, only 23% of the multiple meals were detected when using histologic parameters. Early blood meals were detected clearly within the later blood meals as a delimited body of dark digested blood with heme (H), sometimes also with pink undigested blood, the presence of an associated pale blue-staining peritrophic plug (PP), by the presence and appearance of the peritrophic membrane (PM) surrounding the meals, and a physical separation (PS) between meals. Development of the ovarian follicles including apparent dilatations was also observed. Advanced stages of oocyte development suggests that, at the time of field collection, most Ae. albopictus had fed twice in each gonotrophic cycle. The results obtained during this study indicated that the rate of multiple feeding can be determined using histologic technique which would be useful in evaluating the blood feeding frequency of field-caught tiger mosquitoes Ae. albopictus in endemic areas of viral pathogens.