INITIATION OF PRIMARY-CELL CULTURES FROM EMBRYOS OF THE MOSQUITOS ANOPHELES-ALBIMANUS AND AEDES-TAENIORHYNCHUS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

Primary cell cultures were obtained from eggs of Anopheles albimanus a nd Aedes taeniorhynchus mosquitoes, vectors of human malaria and of Ve nezuelan equine encephalitis virus, respectively. The cellular growth of the An. albimanus cells began four weeks after explanting the embry onic tissues in MK/VP12 medium, supplemented with 15% fetal bovine ser um. The culture showed heterogeneous cellular morphology. With regard to the Ae. taeniorhynchus culture, cellular growth occurred three week s after initiating the culture in MM/VP12 medium. The majority of cell s were small and round. Karyotypes were examined in the latter species .