Behavioral Responses of Pyrethroid Resistant and Susceptible Anopheles Gambiae Mosquitoes to Insecticide Treated Bed Net

Long-lasting insecticidal nets are an effective tool in reducing malaria transmission. However, with increasing insecticide resistance little is known about how physiologically resistant malaria vectors behave around a human-occupied bed net, despite their importance in malaria transmission. We used the Mbita bednet trap to assess the host-seeking behavior of insecticide-resistant Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes under semi-field conditions. The trap incorporates a mosquito netting panel which acts as a mechanical barrier that prevents host-seeking mosquitoes from reaching the human host baiting the trap.Susceptible and pyrethroid-resistant colonies of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes aged 3–5 days old were used in this study. The laboratory-bred mosquitoes were color-marked with fluorescent powders and released inside a semi-field environment where a human subject slept inside a bednet trap erected in a traditional African hut. The netting panel inside the trap was either untreated (control) or deltamethrin-impregnated. The mosquitoes were released outside the hut. Only female mosquitoes were used. A window exit trap was installed on the hut to catch mosquitoes exiting the hut. A prokopack aspirator was used to collect indoor and outdoor resting mosquitoes. In addition, clay pots were placed outside the hut to collect outdoor resting mosquitoes. The F1 progeny of wild-caught mosquitoes were also used in these experiments.The mean number of resistant mosquitoes trapped in the deltamethrin-impregnated bed net trap was higher (mean = 50.21± 3.7) compared to susceptible counterparts (mean + 22.4 ± 1.31) (OR = 1.445; P