Scanning of antennae and maxillary palps of anthropophilic Aedes aegypti and ornithophilic Culex pipiens as potential arbovirus vectors

Vet World Vol.17 October-2024 Article - 6

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(10): 2248-2252

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.2248-2252

Faten Abouelmagd^1,2, Mohamed Elmutasim Elsheikh², Elshiekh Khidir³, Mohammed Radwan⁴, Karim Mohamed Rashad⁵, and Manal El Said^2,6

1. Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, 82524, Egypt.
2. Department of Microbiology, General Medicine Practice Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah, 21442, Saudi Arabia.
3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Abdeyah, Makkah, 24381, Saudi Arabia.
4. General Medicine Practice Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah, 21442, Saudi Arabia.
5. Kasr Alainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 11562, Egypt.
6. Department of Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, 12411, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Efficient mosquito vectors are required to persist and propagate arthropod-borne diseases that seriously affect impoverished populations worldwide. Mosquito sensilla plays a crucial role in host-seeking and disease transmission to humans. This study aimed to distinguish between the several types of sensilla found on the antennae and maxillary palps of Culex pipiens and Aedes aegypti, matching this diversity with host preference and disease transmission.

Materials and Methods: Overall, 1300 mosquitoes were collected and examined using dissection and light microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to identify and describe the diverse types of sensilla found on the antennae and maxillary palps of C. pipiens and A. aegypti.

Results: In total, 900 C. pipiens and 400 A. aegypti mosquitoes were identified. The antennae and maxillary palps of C. pipiens and A. aegypti carry both sensilla trichoidea and sensilla chaetica. The C. pipiens antenna has long and short grooved peg sensilla, whereas A. aegypti lacks long pegs and expresses only occasional short pegs. The maxillary palps express Capitate pegs in both mosquito species and exclusively show sensilla campaniform in A. aegypti.

Conclusion: The lack of long-grooved pegs and the presence of few short pegs, along with campaniform sensilla, limit the host range of A. aegypti and reduce its susceptibility to many infections, unlike C. pipiens.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, Culex pipiens, Scanning electron microscopy, Sensilla.

How to cite this article: Abouelmagd F, Elsheikh ME, Khidir E, Radwan M, Rashad KM, and El Said M (2024) Scanning of antennae and maxillary palps of anthropophilic Aedes aegypti and ornithophilic Culex pipiens as potential arbovirus vectors, Veterinary World, 17(10): 2248-2252.

Received: 2024-06-06 Accepted: 2024-09-03 Published online: 2024-10-07

Corresponding author: Faten Abouelmagd E-mail: faten.rashad@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.2248-2252

Copyright: Abouelmagd, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.