Mosquito Rearing

Mosquito Rearing Procedure

The rearing procedure for the mosquitos included the entire life cycle of the mosquito, from egg to larvae to adult mosquito. The rearing took place within a laboratory setting. All procedures and operations done were performed under the guidance of an experienced staff member and handler of mosquitos. The mosquitos were checked on every other day or at the very least twice a week. 

The steps in rearing will depend on the current stage of the mosquitos. Steps may overlap due to some differences in the individual growth of each individual mosquitos. All containers used were labeled accordingly, based on type of species or genus and of date hatched.

Egg Stage

During the egg stage, a strip of filter paper, with the eggs of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, was placed into a container filled with water. The strip of paper was left there for 1-2 days to allow the eggs to hatch. 

The strip of filter paper holds up to a few thousand eggs of mosquitoes. The eggs last up to an estimate of two months of dry storage. In the case of other genus of mosquitoes such as Culex, eggs are manually collected from different sites and are placed into their respective containers.

Larval Stage

After the mosquito eggs hatch, the newly hatched larvae are to be further redistributed into different containers. The number of larvae for each container is estimated so each container would have roughly an equal number of mosquitos.

Once separated into different containers, mosquito larvae were given a tablet of brewer's yeast to provide them nutrition for growth. The tablet was left in the container to dissolve in the water. The amount of brewer's yeast was approximated based on the amount of time between feeding schedules. 

In this case, the mosquito larvae were given nutrition every other day as much as possible, with exception during holidays. Furthermore, every week, the water of the larvae was replaced with clean water to prevent over saturation of nutrients and to ensure proper and quick growth of the larvae. Lastly, if any of the mosquito larvae turn into pupa, they are to be transferred to another container filled with water, where all the other mosquito pupa per species is stored. 

Pupa Stage

By this stage, mosquitos are at a non-feeding stage and do not have to be given brewer's yeast for nutrition. The container was monitored for any changes with the pupae. Adult mosquitos are expected to emerge soon at this point, within a few days. 

Adult Stage

Adult mosquitos in the containers were transferred into a large glass box which housed all the adult mosquitos. There are separate boxes per species for the mosquitos raised. To feed the adult mosquitoes, a ball of cotton, dipped in a 9:1 solution of water and honey, is placed inside the glass box. The cotton ball was replaced every other day. 

Image Collection Setup

Adult mosquitoes of each species are collected manually through the usage of a suction device. After, the mosquitos are placed into separate containers for each respective classifications and are killed via starvation or suffocation. The carcasses of the mosquitos are used to create the appropriate image sets for the training data. Mosquito species were confirmed and checked upon collection with the assistance of the laboratory staff.

Mosquito Morphology