Location: Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research
Project Number: 3020-32000-019-005-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 1, 2024
End Date: Dec 31, 2024
Objective:
Mosquitoes are fed a sugar solution during rearing and colony maintenance, but in the wild mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, which contains more components than sugar alone. The aim of this research is to develop an artificial nectar meal then test the impact of the artificial nectar meal on mosquito longevity and viral infection.
Approach:
Dr. Vazquez Prokopec will collect mosquitoes that will be analyzed to identify the plant species the mosquitoes fed upon. This information will be used to develop an artificial nectar meal. USDA will feed the artificial nectar meal to mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus and quantify infection and transmission dynamics.
