Anopheles larvae sampling

Arcos, Adriano Nobre, Ferreira, Francisco Augusto da Silva, Cunha, Hillândia Brandão da & Tadei, Wanderli Pedro, 2018, Characterization of artificial larval habitats of Anopheles darlingi (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Brazilian Central Amazon, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 62 (4), pp. 267-274 : 268

Anopheles larvae sampling

The larvae were collected with the aid of standard ladle with 350 mL volumetric capacity, an 11 cm opening and 1 m handle, in order to reach the areas around the larval habitats for 30 min at each site. The sampled individuals were separated in containers by habitat type and collection date, and fed three times a week with macerated fish feed (Tetra Marine Saltware, Tetra ® mixed 1:1 with Gold Fish Color, Alcon ®), with the aim of obtaining adults for identification ( Scarpassa and Tadei, 1990; Oliveira et al., 2012).

Due to the great difficulty in rearing Anopheles larvae in the laboratory, a simple and effective methodology was developed for development to the adult phase without significant losses: larvae were maintained in simulated environments, in trays with water from their respective breeding grounds (containing algae and organic material the larvae feed on) and floating macrophytes belonging to the Salvinia genus. This methodology was effective in the rearing and maintenance of the larvae in the laboratory.

The sampled specimens were sent to the Malaria and Dengue Laboratory – LMD/COSAS/INPA, where they were kept under controlled temperature conditions, at 26 ± 2 ◦ C, upper relative humidity of 70–80% and a 12:12 h photoperiod. The larvae were maintained until adult emergence for identification using dichotomous keys ( Gorham et al., 1967; Faran, 1980; Faran and Linthicum, 1981; Consoli and Lourenço-de-Oliveira, 1994).