Effect of cibarial armature of mosquitoes (Diptera,Culicidae) on blood-meal haemolysis

Cibarial armatures of mosquitoes act mechanically on the ingested erythrocytes producing the haemolysis of part of the blood meal. The extent of haemolysis, in blood meals examined immediately after ingestion, is less than 5% in mosquitoes without cibarial armature or with “primitive” types of cibarial armature, while up to 50% haemolysis is observed in mosquitoes with more highly evolved types of cibarial armature. Such high levels of haemolysis are produced by the passage of the blood through the mosquito head but not by the incubation of the blood with salivary gland and midgut homogenates from the same mosquito or by injection of the blood into the intestine via the anus.