Hemoglobinometry as a Method for Measuring Blood Meal Sizes of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)1

Abstract

A standardized clinical method for measuring hemoglobin has been applied to the measurement of the quantity of blood ingested by Aedes aegypti feeding on a vertebrate host. The midgut of a blood-fed mosquito is added to a reagent which converts all hemoglobin to hemiglobincyanide (HiCN) which can be read spectrophotometrically. A sample of the host's blood is required as a standard. We established the validity of this method by comparing hemoglobin determinations with the size of blood meals measured by weight as well as with blood meals administered as enemas. The method is independent of urination and digestion by the mosquito for at least 12 h after feeding (at 27°C) and can be applied to females feeding on an unrestrained host during crepuscular or dark periods. A disadvantage of this method is that females must be killed in order to determine the volume of blood they ingest. Once converted to hemiglobincyanide, the blood meal can be frozen and stored for later analysis.