Effects of radiation on blood-feeding activity of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Mosquitoes irradiated for SIT programs were mass-reared and processed in large numbers, increasing the likelihood that females could be inadvertently released alongside sterile males. Since these unintentionally released females were also irradiated, we evaluated the impact that radiation has on female mosquitoes and their blood-feeding habit. In our control (0 gray) treatments, we observed that ca. 50% took a blood meal, but as the amount of radiation increased the number of blood meals decreased: >65 gray there were no fully engorged mosquitoes; less than 10% of treated Ae. aegypti at and above 65 gray acquired even partial blood meals. [...]when SIT is used for mosquito control, it is enacted for public health purposes, such as stopping the spread of disease to humans or reducing the presence of a potential vector (Ponlawat and Harrington 2005).