Schlein Y, Muller G
Department of Parasitology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
J Med Entomol. 1995 Nov;32(6):882-7. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/32.6.882.
Plant tissue feeding by Culex pipiens molestus (Forskål) was determined by identification of plant residues, differentially stained with Calcofluor, in dissected mosquito guts. Such residues were found in 42.3% of 286 field-caught mosquitoes. A method for determination of plant tissue feeding from specific sources is described. Before feeding branches were suffused with Calcofluor stain which binds to plant cell walls; stained residues of this tissue in the insect gut are indicative of feeding. Laboratory experiments with Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) and C. p. molestus verified that feeding on labeled and untreated branches was similar. These experiments quantified the frequency of feeding by sand flies on 15 plant species and by the mosquitoes on 6 plant species. Labeled branches of plants that were fed upon frequently in the laboratory were used as baits in field tests. In the laboratory, the percentage of P. papatasi feeding on Prosopis farcta (Macbride) was 75.8% and on Ricinus communis (L.) 67.2%, whereas 29.4 and 17.9% of the sand flies caught in the field near labeled plants were marked, respectively. Similarly, 84.8% of the C. p. molestus fed on Ochradenus baccatus (Delile) in the laboratory and 11.0% of the mosquitoes caught near labeled baits were marked. These experiments show that plant tissue is common in the diet of C. p. molestus in the Jordan Valley, and that the plants tested in the field are natural sources of this diet for either sand flies or mosquitoes.
通过鉴定解剖的蚊虫肠道中经荧光增白剂差异染色的植物残渣，确定了骚扰库蚊对植物组织的摄食情况。在286只野外捕获的蚊虫中，有42.3%发现了此类残渣。本文描述了一种确定从特定来源摄食植物组织的方法。喂食前，将树枝浸泡在能与植物细胞壁结合的荧光增白剂中；昆虫肠道中该组织的染色残渣表明其摄食过。用巴氏白蛉和骚扰库蚊进行的实验室实验证实，它们摄食标记树枝和未处理树枝的情况相似。这些实验量化了白蛉对15种植物以及蚊虫对6种植物的摄食频率。在实验室中经常被摄食的植物的标记树枝被用作野外试验的诱饵。在实验室中，巴氏白蛉摄食法氏牧豆树的比例为75.8%，摄食蓖麻的比例为67.2%，而在标记植物附近野外捕获的白蛉中，分别有29.4%和17.9%被标记。同样，在实验室中，84.8%的骚扰库蚊摄食了刺山柑，在标记诱饵附近捕获的蚊虫中有11.0%被标记。这些实验表明，在约旦河谷，植物组织是骚扰库蚊食物中的常见成分，而且在野外测试的植物是白蛉或蚊虫这种食物的天然来源。
