We used a histologic technique to study multiple blood feeding in a single gonotrophic cycle by engorged Aedes aegypti (L.) that were collected weekly for 2 yr from houses in a rural village in Thailand (n = 1,891) and a residential section of San Juan, Puerto Rico (n = 1,675). Overall, mosquitoes from Thailand contained significantly more multiple meals (n = 1,300, 42% double meals, 5% triple meals) than mosquitoes collected in Puerto Rico (n = 1,156, 32% double meals, 2% triple meals). The portion of specimens for which frequency of feeding could not be determined was 31% at both sites. We estimated that on average Ae. aegypti take 0.76 and 0.63 human blood meals per day in Thailand and Puerto Rico, respectively. However, frequency of multiple feeding varied among houses and, in Puerto Rico, the neighborhoods from which mosquitoes were collected. In Thailand 65% of the mosquitoes fed twice on the same day, whereas in Puerto Rico 57% took multiple meals separated by > or = 1 d. At both sites, the majority of engorged specimens were collected inside houses (Thailand 86%, Puerto Rico 95%). The number of blood meals detected was independent of where mosquitoes were collected (inside versus outside of the house) at both sites and the time of day collections were made in Puerto Rico. Feeding rates were slightly higher for mosquitoes collected in the afternoon in Thailand. Temperatures were significantly higher and mosquitoes significantly smaller in Thailand than in Puerto Rico. At both sites female size was negatively associated with temperature. Rates of multiple feeding were associated positively with temperature and negatively with mosquito size in Thailand, but not in Puerto Rico. Multiple feeding during a single gonotrophic cycle is a regular part of Ae. aegypti biology, can vary geographically and under different climate conditions, and may be associated with variation in patterns of dengue virus transmission.

https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-medical-entomology/volume-37/issue-1/0022-2585-37.1.89/Longitudinal-Studies-of-Aedes-aegypti-Diptera--Culicidae-in-Thailand/10.1603/0022-2585-37.1.89.pdf

Longitudinal Studies of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand and Puerto Rico: Blood Feeding Frequency

Background
The survival of adult female Aedes mosquitoes is a critical component of their ability to transmit pathogens such as dengue viruses. One of the principal determinants of Aedes survival is temperature, which has been associated with seasonal changes in Aedes populations and limits their geographical distribution. The effects of temperature and other sources of mortality have been studied in the field, often via mark-release-recapture experiments, and under controlled conditions in the laboratory. Survival results differ and reconciling predictions between the two settings has been hindered by variable measurements from different experimental protocols, lack of precision in measuring survival of free-ranging mosquitoes, and uncertainty about the role of age-dependent mortality in the field.

/pdf/modelling-adult-aedes-aegypti-and-aedes-albopictus-survival-2qjjpumkcj.pdf

Modelling adult Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus survival at different temperatures in laboratory and field settings

Adult female Aedes aegypti (L.), the vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses, have an affinity for feeding on human blood and a tendency to forego feeding on sugar. This observation challenges two tenets of mosquito biology: (1) mosquitoes imbibe plant carbohydrates for synthesis of energy reserves and blood for reproduction and (2) egg production is reduced when mosquitoes feed on human blood compared with blood from other species. Sub-optimal amounts of the amino acid isoleucine in human blood (particularly free isoleucine in plasma) are thought to be responsible for lowered egg production when human blood is ingested. We tested the hypothesis that feeding on human blood is associated with a selective advantage for Ae. aegypti and is an underlying reason for this mosquito's intimate and epidemiologically important relationship with human beings. Our five experiments examined the effects of different isoleucine concentrations on accumulated energy reserves, frequency of host contact, survival, and egg production. When mosquitoes imbibed blood meals over a 7- to 10-d period and were not fed sugar, increased isoleucine concentration decreased energy reserves and did not increase egg production. Aedes aegypti took smaller but more frequent blood meals when feeding on a low-isoleucine human host daily compared with a high-isoleucine mouse host. Previous reports that isoleucine enhances egg production were confirmed only when females were fed sugar, an unusual behavior for most domestic Ae. aegypti populations. Females fed human blood and water had greater age-specific survival (l(x)), reproductive output (m(x)), and cumulative net replacement (R0) than cohorts fed human blood plus sugar or isoleucine-rich mouse blood with or without access to sugar. The unique isoleucine concentration of human blood is associated with Ae. aegypti's unusual propensity to feed preferentially and frequently on humans--a behavior that increases this mosquito's fitness, synthesis of energy reserves, and contact with human hosts, making it an especially effective disseminator of human pathogens.

Why Do Female Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Feed Preferentially and Frequently on Human Blood?

1. The importance of blood-sucking insects 2. The evolution of the blood-sucking habit 3. Feeding preferences of blood-sucking insects 4. Location of the host 5. Ingestion of the blood meal 6. Managing the blood meal 7. Host-insect interactions 8. Transmission of parasites by blood-sucking insects 9. The blood-sucking insect groups.

/pdf/the-biology-of-blood-sucking-in-insects-26knl7ff0b.pdf

The Biology of Blood-Sucking in Insects

Although females of most mosquito species are known to use sugar as a necessary source of energy, female Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto are thought to use it facultatively or not at all. However, field evidence of sugar-free living is inconclusive, and the implications for reproductive fitness and vectorial capacity are unknown. To evaluate the role that sugar may play in the ecology of these mosquitoes, mated female An. gambiae in the laboratory were given access to either no food (water only), 10% sucrose, human blood, or human blood + 10% sucrose, and comparisons of daily mortality, fecundity, and biting frequency were made. The effect of sugar availability on vectorial capacity and the intrinsic rate of increase, a measure of fitness, then were determined. Females (pooled and individual) given blood + sugar lived significantly longer than did those on the other diets. Daily fecundity was higher for females given blood alone than for those fed blood + sugar (13 versus 9 eggs per female ...

https://bioone.org/journals/Journal-of-Medical-Entomology/volume-38/issue-1/0022-2585-38.1.22/Effects-of-Available-Sugar-on-the-Reproductive-Fitness-and-Vectorial/10.1603/0022-2585-38.1.22.pdf

Effects of available sugar on the reproductive fitness and vectorial capacity of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae).

We determined whether size, an indirect measure of teneral energy reserves, modifies the fitness advantage (sigma survival x egg production/female/day) conferred to female Aedes aegypti (L.) maintained on human blood over cohorts fed human blood plus sugar. Different sized females were obtained by rearing them at different larval densities and with different amounts of food per larva. Each female in 4 treatment groups of 23 mosquitoes each was maintained in a separate cage. A 10% sucrose solution was provided ad libitum to mosquitoes in the sugar-plus-blood treatments and water to the blood only groups. Eggs deposited and survival were monitored daily for each mosquito until all had died. Within a size category, survival of mosquitoes in different treatments was not different and mosquitoes fed only human blood laid more eggs than those fed blood plus sugar. The numbers of eggs laid by small mosquitoes fed human blood alone and large mosquitoes fed human blood plus sugar were not different. Mosquitoes fed only human blood had higher net replacement and intrinsic rates of growth than similar sized mosquitoes fed blood plus sugar. Female Ae. aegypti fed only human blood, regardless of the variation in size that we studied and thus energy reserves at emergence, had a fitness advantage over those fed a diet that included sugar.

Effect of female size on fecundity and survivorship of Aedes aegypti fed only human blood versus human blood plus sugar.

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Effect of female size on fecundity and survivorship of Aedes aegypti fed only human blood versus human blood plus sugar.