Identification of Blood Meals of Hematophagous Arthropods by the Hemoglobin Crystallization Method

Identification of mosquito blood meals was conducted by the method of hemoglobin crystallization. The technique involved crystallizing hemoglobin from blood samples taken from the arthropod midgut, and comparing crystal structure with that of known materials. Results of preliminary evaluation on the accuracy of the technique indicated that this method may eventually supplement the precipitin test in studies concerning the identification of arthropod blood meals.