Physiological Aspects Of Digestion Of The Blood Meal By Aedes Aegypti (Linnaeus) And Culex Fatigans Wiedemann1, 2

The proteinase activity in the A. aegypti midgut reached a maximum 24 or 36 hours, and in C. fatigans 36 hours, after the blood meal. Holding the mosquitoes in continuous light or darkness did not affect either the proteinase level in the gut or the rate of decline of the protein content. The proteinase activities were higher in both species fed on a chick infected with P. gallinaceum, and in A. aegypti with P. gallinaceum oocysts on the gut wall; however, the rate of decline of the protein content in the gut was unaffected by the malaria parasites. Compared with dewinged controls, proteinase activity was lower in A. aegypti which were decapitated within 6 hours of a blood meal.