Effect of blood meal size on mosquito response to disturbance while blood feeding on a simulated host

I tested the hypothesis that blood feeding mosquitoes are more likely to leave the host in response to disturbance when they are almost compared with partially full. I studied behavioural responses of female Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti and assessed the influence of blood meal size and feeding duration on the likelihood that they would leave the membrane when disturbed. An artificial feeder was used as a simulated host. Both species showed an increase in blood meal weight and fecundity with feeding duration. For both species, a positive correlation was found between feeding duration and the tendency to leave when disturbed. Aedes aegypti demonstrated a positive correlation between blood meal weight and the tendency to leave, however no such relationship was found in An. gambiae. These data support the hypothesis that the amount of blood in the mosquito mid-gut influences their decision to remain on defensive hosts.