Survey of Mississippi Mosquito Blood Meals for Vertebrate Host Identification

• Published in: Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 283 - 285
• Main Authors: Ber, Jessica Lynn, Goddard, Jerome, Outlaw, Diana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Mosquito Control Association 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic insects; Blood; Blood meals; Culex; Culex erraticus; Culicidae; Deer; Disease; Disease transmission; Feeding Behavior; Geography; Insect control; Meals; Mississippi; mosquito control; Mosquitoes; Odocoileus virginianus; Parks & recreation areas; Predation; Psorophora; Rural areas; surveys; Vertebrates; West Nile virus; Mississippi; Aedes vexans; white-tailed deer; Culex erraticus; blood meal
• ISSN: 8756-971X; 1943-6270; 1943-6270
• DOI: 10.2987/21-7004

Exploring particular mosquito and vertebrate relationships provide insight to potential transmission of several agents of disease. In the current study, the relationship between white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) and mosquitoes was explored by identifying blood meals within mosquitoes captured throughout Mississippi between June and September of 2013 and 2017. We captured 72 bloodfed mosquitoes between 2 collection years, with a majority of specimens identified as Culex erraticus or Psorophora mathesoni . Seventy-nine percent (26/33) of blood meals in Cx. erraticus originated from the white-tailed deer. These findings implicate mosquitoes may primarily be feeding on white-tailed deer in rural areas of Mississippi.