Feeding response of the Anopheles mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) to an artificial meal

Formulated artificial meals are important for experimental purposes as exact composition of the meal is known every time a mosquito ingests. Artificial meals may provide an alternative to maintain colonies without live animal feeding or a source of blood. After evaluating various different formulations, we discovered two working recipes that Anopheles stephensi adult mosquitoes can be reared with, and have done so for six sequential generations. Artificial meal success is evaluated by calculating percent engorgement and consequential egg deposition. The formulations are still being evaluated. Key words: Anopheles stephensi, artificial meal