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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #205190
Title: Field evaluation of a dyed food marking technique for Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Author
item Welch, Craig
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item Allan, Sandra - Sandy
item Barnard, Donald

Submitted to: American Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2006
Publication Date: 12/1/2007
Citation: Welch, C.H., Kline, D.L., Allan, S.A., Barnard, D.R. 2007. Field evaluation of a dyed food marking technique for Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae). American Mosquito Control Association. 22:626-628.

Interpretive Summary: The dispersal of adult mosquitoes from the aquatic sites where the larvae develop helps us to better understand how the diseases that they sometimes carry are spread. In order to monitor this dispersal, mosquitoes are often marked and recaptured to see where they have moved. This study tested a new marking technique in which food dye was fed to mosquito larvae at a dairy farm. The adults that emerged were collected to see how effective the technique was in marking them.

Technical Abstract: A method of marking adult Cx. quinquefasciatus Say by feeding the larvae commercial hog chow dyed with methylene blue, Giemsa, and crystal violet was evaluated under field conditions. Larvae were offered the dyed food in outdoor basins containg a mixture of dairy effluent and fresh water. Newly emerged adult mosquitoes were marked 85.3% of the time. Ten days after adult emergence, 67.8% of the mosquitoes retained a visible mark.