Apparent influence of the stage of blood meal digestion on the efficacy of ground applied ULV aerosols for the control of urban Culex mosquitoes. II. Laboratory evidence.

The susceptibility of adult Culex pipiens s.l., Culiseta melanura and Aedes aegypti to insecticide aerosols in wind tunnel exposures varied with time, depending on the stage of blood meal digestion. Greater than 2-fold differences were observed in the concentrations of malathion and synergized resmethrin required to kill test mosquitoes, depending on whether they had been given a blood meal and, if they had, the length of time following the blood meal. The period of lowest susceptibility varied from 24 h after feeding in Ae. aegypti to 72 h in Cs. melanura. The greatest variability occurred during the period when undigested blood was present. Data from tests with a malathion-tolerant strain of Cx. pipiens s.l. suggested little change in susceptibility regardless of blood feeding and the associated weight changes that occur from ingestion of blood.