Efficacy of sugar-protein non-membranous dietary system for diapause egg production in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes under short-day conditions

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), is a global vector of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses. With extreme adaptability of survival as diapause eggs, this mosquito has invaded and established in temperate climatic zones. The diapause eggs are specially programmed to overcome the harsh winter conditions in temperate habitats. In the laboratory, diapausing females are reared from early larval instars under short-day conditions (21°C and 16D:8 L photoperiods). Aedes albopictus is normally fed on Guinea pigs for the rearing of diapause mosquitoes which requires ethical approval from the animal use committee and costly arrangements. Therefore, the present study was conducted to find whether bovine serum albumin protein (10%) with sucrose (5%) solution (SAP-10) offered through a membrane-free feeding system would result in an alternative diet for the production of diapause eggs in comparison to blood-feeding. This feeding system shows a considerable rate of engorgement of diapausing females under short-day conditions and produced 30.8 diapause eggs/female in comparison to blood-feeding on a guinea pig (40.9 eggs/female). The diapause rate of viable eggs for the SAP-10 diet (95.28%) was similar to the blood-feeding (96.32%). The findings suggest that the present diet feeding system is a promising tool for the rearing of diapause Ae. albopictus mosquitoes under short-day conditions. Further studies are suggested to evaluate the physiological and developmental aspects of mosquitoes reared on the diet.