Comparison of a Pledget Technique with Other Methods for Bloodfeeding Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) for Virus Studies

Three artificial methods for feeding blood/arbovirus mixtures to mosquitoes were investigated. A blood-soaked cotton pledget provided better feeding rates of Aedes vigilax (Skuse) and Culex annulirostris Skuse than a blood-filled rat tail skin or a membrane feeder when compared to a live rat.