Abstract

PEREZ INSUETA, Omayda et al. Assessment of three feeding diets for the Aedes aegypti larval stage under lab conditions. Rev Cubana Med Trop [online]. 2013, vol.65, n.1, pp.107-118. ISSN 0375-0760.

Introduction: feeding mosquitoes during the larval stage is an important process, since it is the stage in which basic nutrients are stored for the subsequent development of pupas and adults. Objective: to evaluate both the quality of three diets as nutritional source and the influence these diets have on the development of the Aedes aegypti in its pre-adult stage. Methods: three different diets were evaluated at the Insectarium of the "Pedro Kourí" Tropical Medicine Institute in Havana, Cuba. The diets evaluated were: CENPALAB Food Concentrate, elaborated at the Center for Laboratory Animal Production (CENPALAB, Spanish acronym) and torula yeast, a sugar cane byproduct (both of them from domestic production) as well as fish flour, an imported product. First, the hygienic-microbiological and the chemical nutritional qualities of these diets were determined. Some biological variables were also evaluated such as the number of pupae per food and the duration of the larval cycle. By means of the Lowry method, the amount of proteins present in larvae fed with each diet was measured. Results: the hygienic-microbiological as well as the chemical nutritional characterization of the three different foods evaluated showed satisfactory results for the development of the research process. The highest values of protein concentration and of biological activity during the mosquito larval stage were obtained with fish flour. There were no significant differences in protein concentration among the diets during the first days of the larval stage. From the fifth to the seventh day of life, the protein concentration with fish flour was higher than that of the CENPALAB Food Concentrate. The emergence of pupae started on the sixth day for all the diets, reaching the highest peak on the seventh day, with some differences among diets. The larval cycle lasted 7 to 8 days. Conclusions: the use of domestic-made diets is recommended in situations where imported food lack, so that the development of research work can proceed.

Keywords : food diet; larval stage; Aedes aegypti; protein concentration.

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