BLOOD-FEEDING PATTERNS OF AEDES-AEGYPTI (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) COLLECTED IN A RURAL THAI VILLAGE

Aedes aegypti (L.) were collected by aspiration once each week from in and around houses in a rural village in Chachoengsao Province, Thaila nd, during May 1990 to June 1991. Of the 1,230 specimens analyzed with a sandwich ELISA, 73% reacted to one or more of the seven hosts which we tested. Eighty-eight percent (789/896) of all detectable meals wer e identified as being from a single host (human). Patent multiple meal s (double and triple), of which one was always human, were detected in 7% (66/896) of the specimens. The probability of feeding on a human, either as a single host or in a patent mixed meal, was >0.90 during 12 of the 14 mo of the study; this probability never dropped below 0.85. The probability of Ae. aegypti taking multiple blood meals during a s ingle gonotrophic cycle varied widely from 0.0 to 1.0. The possibility is discussed, including epidemiological significance, that there are seasonal fluctuations in the frequency of multiple feeding by Ae. aegy pti and that multiple feeding increases in concert with seasonal trend s for dengue infections of humans in Thailand.