We are analyzing the blood-meal sources of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes captured in urban Tucson, Arizona. We wish to better understand mosquito biology in an urban, desert environment. We anticipate that the sources of blood-meals for C. quinquefasciatus may differ in the residential environment compared to wetlands. This will be important in determining how well C. quinquefasciatus may serve as a vector for West Nile. We have been using a double-antibody ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay) to distinguish between bird, human, cat, and dog blood sources. Mosquitoes were collected in the summer of 2002 mainly using carbon dioxide and gravid traps set in a wide range of microhabitats located in urban Tucson. From residential sites, we detected 84 blood-meal sources. Twenty-seven were bird only, ten dog only, forty-one human only, two cat only, one dog and bird, one bird and cat, and two bird and human.
Species 1: Diptera Culicidae Culex quinquefasciatus (southern house mosquito)
Keywords: blood meals
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