The measurement of blood meal size in Aedes aegypti (L.).

Three techniques of estimating blood meal volumes (gravimetric, radioisotope counting and haemoglobin estimation) were compared in adult female Aedes aegypti fed on a cat. Aedes aegypti ingested a mean volume of 2.37 ul, 2.44 ul and 2.57 ul as measured by gravimetric, radioisotope and haemoglobin estimation techniques respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (P greater than 0.05, n = 58). Neither calendar age (post-eclosion) nor strain differences appear to influence blood meal intake but a smaller amount of blood was ingested after a single gonotrophic cycle. The relative merits of the techniques are discussed.