A Method of transporting living Mosquito Larvae

Extract

Outbreaks of yellow fever in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Uganda in 1940 emphasised the necessity for the mosquito control measures which are in force to prevent the disease from reaching Egypt or the East African ports. Edwards (1941, Mosquitoes of the Ethiopian Region, III, p. 3), referring to yellow fever, states that “ it would seem that most of the common biting mosquitoes of West Africa are to be regarded as potentially dangerous.” This statement applies also to north-east Africa. For the further planning of control measures, more information is required as to which mosquitos can act as vectors. Transmission experiments can usually be carried out only in a few specially equipped laboratories, so that mosquitos must sometimes be transported over great distances. A convenient method of doing this is to carry several thousands of living larvae which can provide a supply of adults for experiments. The writer has, for several years, used the simple method described below and found it effective in the hot dry climate of the northern Sudan. Recently it proved useful for sending larvae of species of Aëdes to the Yellow Fever Reseaich Institute at Entebbe.

Larvae are stranded on a wet surface in a cool damp atmosphere and can be carried under these conditions for many hours or even several days. Perforated trays are made from the metal of petrol tins as shown in Fig. 1. A piece of cloth 44 cm. square is laid over each tray and tied underneath it. Water containing the larvae is poured into the tray and drains away, leaving the larvae stranded. A metal cross-piece laid on the tray serves to support another tray above it. Eight trays can be placed in a four gallon petrol tin which is then closed with a lid. In hot weather a wet towel may be wrapped round the tin.