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Q&A ViewAttendees 7

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

Member Symposium

Rising Stars of Entomology Award Symposium

Aedes albopictus blood feeding behavior: From lab to field

Sunday, October 31, 2021
8:45 AM – 9:20 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
In-Person
Aedes albopictus is a competent vector of numerous pathogens, representing diverse transmission cycles involving unique hosts. Previous blood meal analyses demonstrate a wide range of feeding patterns, from primarily anthropophagic to zoophagic – yet little is known about the drivers of these differences. We assessed Ae. albopictus feeding behavior in the field and lab, including feeding patterns, potential fitness implications of host species, and preference. We examined the feeding patterns in Long Island, New York, and contextualized blood meal sources with host availability. We identified 10 host species from 90 blood meals, of which 33.3% were human. Our study is the first to quantitatively assess Ae. albopictus feeding patterns in the context of host availability of wild animals in addition to humans and domestic animals. We identified over- and under-utilization of several species. The NY feeding pattern was different from a previous study in Maryland, where Ae. albopictus fed more often on rats than humans. To understand if these differences were due to host availability or mosquito population variation, we compared the fitness of NY and MD Ae. albopictus after feeding on rat and human blood. Our results do not show major mosquito fitness differences by blood hosts, suggesting that fitness benefits do not drive Northeastern Ae. albopictus feeding patterns. We then assessed the host preference of Ae. albopictus collected from populations across a spectrum of feeding patterns, from primarily zoophagic to anthropophagic. Together, these findings provide novel insight into a critical behavior of an important vector of human disease.