Blood feeding habits of mosquitoes: hardly a bite in South America

Melgarejo-Colmenares, Karelly; Cardo, María Victoria; Vezzani, Darío

doi:10.1007/s00436-022-07537-0

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 218 publications

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“…In Argentina, mosquito blood feeding studies have used antisera or baited traps (e.g. Almirón & Brewer, 1995; Mitchell et al, 1987; Stein et al, 2013), techniques that can only identify certain fixed host species but not the broad range of potential hosts in natural conditions (Melgarejo‐Colmenares et al, 2022). To the best of our knowledge, there are no published studies on blood meal patterns of any mosquito species using molecular tools in Argentina.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood feeding patterns of the Culex pipiens complex in equestrian land uses and their implications for arboviral encephalitis risk in temperate Argentina

Cardo

Carbajo

Mozzoni

et al. 2022

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Blood feeding patterns of mosquitoes are a key component in the dynamics of arboviral encephalitides transmission. In temperate Argentina, the members of the Culex pipiens complex include Cx. pipiens molestus, Cx. quinquefasciatus and their hybrids. To characterize their blood feeding patterns, adult resting mosquitoes were collected monthly during the warm season in urban and rural equestrian fields. The availability of birds and domestic mammals per site was characterized. The blood source and the complex member were successfully identified for 89 specimens using PCR. Blood of 19 vertebrate species was isolated including four mammals (most common feeds from dog, Canus lupus 19% of the blood meals; and horse, Equus caballus 18%) and 15 birds (picazuro pigeon, Patagioenas picazuro 11%; eared dove, Zenaida auriculata 10%; chicken, Gallus gallus 9%). The Forage Ratio (FR), calculated as the proportion of feeds taken from a given host species with respect to that host availability in the environment, suggested preference for dog by all members of the complex (FR ≥4.5).On the contrary, FR values suggested avoidance for horse by Cx. quinquefasciatus and the hybrid (FR ≤0.8), and a use proportional to its abundance by Cx. pipiens molestus (FR = 1.1-1.2 in urban and rural sites, respectively). FR values suggesting preference were obtained for avian species of the orders Passeriformes (7 species in total) and Columbiformes ( 5) by all members of the complex (FR ≥ 3.3), whereas values for monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus, Psiitaciformes) suggested avoidance by Cx. quinquefasciatus in urban sites (FR = 0.4) and by Cx. pipiens molestus in rural sites (FR = 0.3) but not in urban sites (FR = 1.4). A mammal-bird index (MBI, from −1 all avian to +1 all mammalian blood meals) was calculated for each member of the complex and urbanization category. Values were negative for Cx. quinquefasciatus (MBI urban = −0.60, MBI rural = −0.33) and positive for Cx. pipiens molestus (MBI urban = 0.20, MBI rural = 0.60), indicating a higher proportion of feeds taken on birds and mammals, respectively, regardless of the urbanization category. In temperate Argentina, the members of the Cx. pipiens complex fed both on horses and on birds, thus representing a real risk of transmission of arboviral encephalitides from avian enzootic cycles to horse epizootics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood feeding patterns of the Culex pipiens complex in equestrian land uses and their implications for arboviral encephalitis risk in temperate Argentina

Cardo

Carbajo

Mozzoni

et al. 2022

Zoonoses and Public Health

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“…Differential and biased feeding by vectors on particular human demographic groups can have profound impacts on malaria epidemiology and may permit Plasmodium transmission to persist even where control measures are in place [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. One approach to quantifying patterns of feeding on human hosts of different ages and sexes is with blood meal analysis [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genotyping of Anopheles mosquito blood meals reveals nonrandom human host selection: implications for human-to-mosquito Plasmodium falciparum transmission

Mbewe

Keven

Mangani

et al. 2023

Malar J

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Background Control of malaria parasite transmission can be enhanced by understanding which human demographic groups serve as the infectious reservoirs. Because vector biting can be heterogeneous, some infected individuals may contribute more to human-to-mosquito transmission than others. Infection prevalence peaks in school-age children, but it is not known how often they are fed upon. Genotypic profiling of human blood permits identification of individual humans who were bitten. The present investigation used this method to estimate which human demographic groups were most responsible for transmitting malaria parasites to Anopheles mosquitoes. It was hypothesized that school-age children contribute more than other demographic groups to human-to-mosquito malaria transmission. Methods In a region of moderate-to-high malaria incidence in southeastern Malawi, randomly selected households were surveyed to collect human demographic information and blood samples. Blood-fed, female Anopheles mosquitoes were sampled indoors from the same houses. Genomic DNA from human blood samples and mosquito blood meals of human origin was genotyped using 24 microsatellite loci. The resultant genotypes were matched to identify which individual humans were sources of blood meals. In addition, Plasmodium falciparum DNA in mosquito abdomens was detected with polymerase chain reaction. The combined results were used to identify which humans were most frequently bitten, and the P. falciparum infection prevalence in mosquitoes that resulted from these blood meals. Results Anopheles females selected human hosts non-randomly and fed on more than one human in 9% of the blood meals. Few humans contributed most of the blood meals to the Anopheles vector population. Children ≤ 5 years old were under-represented in mosquito blood meals while older males (31–75 years old) were over-represented. However, the largest number of malaria-infected blood meals was from school age children (6–15 years old). Conclusions The results support the hypothesis that humans aged 6–15 years are the most important demographic group contributing to the transmission of P. falciparum to the Anopheles mosquito vectors. This conclusion suggests that malaria control and prevention programmes should enhance efforts targeting school-age children and males.

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“…The blood feeding pattern is evaluated by the blood meal analysis, and it can be influenced by environmental and biological factors of the mosquito species population [ 4 ]. Linked to their blood feeding, mosquito females are associated with the spread of pathogens, such as arboviruses, nematodes, and Plasmodium protozoa [ 5 ], and they can shape the transmission cycle of pathogens across a community of vertebrate hosts. Species of the Mansonia genus such as Mansonia indubitans and Mansonia titillans are effective vectors of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) in Peru [ 6 ] and Venezuela [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The host preference is determined genetically [ 4 ]. It shows that mosquito species can feed on a particular species or group, independent of the host abundance in the environment [ 5 ]. Despite variations in feeding behavior and host preference, the knowledge of blood-feeding patterns can help to establish which species are involved in the transmission dynamics of a mosquito-borne pathogen [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Feeding Patterns of Mansonia (Diptera, Culicidae) in Rural Settlements near Porto Velho, State of Rondonia, Brazil

et al. 2023

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Mosquito females of the genus Mansonia (Blanchard) can be a nuisance to humans and animals since they are voraciously hematophagous and feed on the blood of a variety of vertebrates. Despite their relevance, there is a lack of investigation into the blood-feeding patterns of the Mansonia species. Knowledge of the host preference is crucial in establishing the public health importance of a mosquito species and its potential to be involved in the transmission dynamics of pathogens. Species that are primarily anthropophilic can be more effective in spreading vector-borne pathogens to humans. In this study, we used an Illumina Nextera sequencing protocol and the QIIME2 workflow to assess the diversity of DNA sequences extracted in the ingested blood of mosquito species to evaluate the overall and local host choices for three species: Ma. titillans, Ma. Amazonensis, and Ma. humeralis, in rural areas alongside the Madeira River in the vicinities of the Santo Antonio Energia (SAE) reservoir in the municipality of Porto Velho, Rondônia, Western Brazil. By performing our analysis pipeline, we have found that host diversity per collection site showed a significant heterogeneity across the sample sites. In addition, in rural areas, Ma. amazonensis present a high affinity for B. taurus, Ma. humeralis shows an overall preference for C. familiaris and B. taurus, but also H. sapiens and E. caballus in urban areas, and Ma. titillans showed more opportunistic behavior in rural areas, feeding on wild animals and G. gallus, though with an overall preference for H. sapiens.

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Blood feeding habits of mosquitoes: hardly a bite in South America

Cited by 16 publications

References 218 publications

Blood feeding patterns of the Culex pipiens complex in equestrian land uses and their implications for arboviral encephalitis risk in temperate Argentina

Blood feeding patterns of the Culex pipiens complex in equestrian land uses and their implications for arboviral encephalitis risk in temperate Argentina

Genotyping of Anopheles mosquito blood meals reveals nonrandom human host selection: implications for human-to-mosquito Plasmodium falciparum transmission

Host Feeding Patterns of Mansonia (Diptera, Culicidae) in Rural Settlements near Porto Velho, State of Rondonia, Brazil

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