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1: J Med Entomol. 2004 Jul;41(4):807-9.Links

Relative abundance of two cuticular hydrocarbons indicates whether a mosquito is old enough to transmit malaria parasites.

Brei B, Edman JD, Gerade B, Clark JM.

Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

Temporal changes in the cuticular hydrocarbons of female Anophelesstephensi (Liston) (Diptera: Culicidae) were quantified using gas-liquid chromatography with flame-ionization detection. The ratio of two prominent hydrocarbons, nonacosane (C29) and hentriacontane (C31), was found to change significantly with respect to mosquito age over a period of 15 d. A regression model was developed using this ratio, C29/C31 = 3.96 - 1.63 log (age), and prediction intervals, based on a 12-d developmental interval necessary for females to transmit malaria, were generated using confidence levels for one-sided tests. The model predicted that females that had a C29/C31 ratio of 2.6 or greater were only 10% probable to be old enough to transmit malaria, whereas females with ratios of 1.8 or less were 90% probable.

PMID: 15311480 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]