Assessment of the naked bloodbased mass rearing system for Aedes aegypti and determination of its oviposition time

The preference for the blood meal source is crucial in the mass rearing of mosquitoes. Two blood meal source, namely, naked horse blood and naked human blood, were evaluated based on the fecundity Ae. aegypti mosquitoes reared. The preferred oviposition time of horse and human blood fed-mosquitoes was also observed using automated oviposition clocks. For experiments, aluminum plate and Parafilm M system was used to administer the blood meals under controlled room temperature and humidity of 26 2°C and 60 8%, respectively. No additives were added to both blood sources, aside from anticoagulants such as citrate phosphate dextrose (CPD) for human blood and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for horse blood. No significant difference was observed on the mean number of eggs produced by the mosquitoes fed with naked horse and human blood, as evaluated using t-test for independent means. This showed that naked horse and human blood meal has relatively the same effectivity on the fecundity of Ae. aegypti. However, the developmental time of Ae. aegypti was longer with human blood (11 days) than with horse blood (9 days). The oviposition experiment showed that mosquitoes fed with naked horse and human blood prefer oviposition during the dark phase of the day, with variations in time between dusk to dawn. Naked human blood is recommended for the mass rearing of Ae. aegypti due to its easier acquisition and higher availability