Aedes Triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae) and La Crosse Virus: II. Modification of mosquito feeding behavior by virus infection1

Abstract

During the course of La Crosse virus transmission trials involving suckling mice, the probing and feeding behavior of 20 different strains of Aedes triseriatus was observed. As each female refed, the number of probes and the approximate amount of blood imbibed was recorded. Infected females tended to probe more and engorge less than noninfected siblings. For example, in a group of infected females, 21% took a partial blood meal with 1 probe; 79% of the females made multiple probes to obtain a partial blood meal. In contrast, 52% of the uninfected females fully engorged with 1 probe; 48% of the females made multiple probes to engorge. The present study demonstrated that viruses can cause deleterious effects in vector arthropods. Implications for the La Crosse virus-Aedes triseriatus system are presented.