ساخت یک وسیله برای مطالعه رفتار تحریک پذیری- دورکنندگی پشه ها

Mosquitoes are considered as a health problem and annoying to the inhabitants in the endemic and non-endemic areas. They are known to transmit the most important human vector-borne diseases (such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, filariasis, and Zika fever). To reduce the incidence of these diseases, the population of the vectors should be suppressed and their bites should be prevented. The methods of suppression of vector populations are generally based on different groups of insecticides, which occasionally lead to behavioral changes. Natural or chemical repellents are also one of the most effective methods to protect humans against insect bites and transmission of diseases. Therefore, the study of behavioral changes in mosquitoes before and after exposure to the insecticides and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the new repellent compounds play a key role in the success of the mosquito-borne diseases control programs. The aim of the present study was to develop a device that can be used to investigate the behavioral aspects of medically important mosquitoes in the laboratory conditions. The device is actually benchmarked chambers from residential homes in malaria endemic areas that simulate the feeding and resting (endophilic and endophagic) habits of the mosquitoes in human places. The device consists of two large and small boxes and an animal restrainer that all are made of Plexiglass. Large and small boxes are respectively used to test the repellency and irritancy properties of the various formulations. The restrainer also easily confines the laboratory animal and facilitates evaluation of the blood-feeding behavior of mosquitoes without any stress. The effectiveness of indoor residual spraying, the durability of insecticides on the long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, and also effectiveness of the repellents on the skin or clothes can be easily observed, evaluated and carefully interpreted by this device. For the first time, in this study, a restrainer has been such designed that to confine the guinea pig ethically, to attribute the excito-repellency effects to the substance being evaluated not to the physical mobility of the host animal. It is possible to use the large chamber and restrainer for mosquitoes blood feeding as well. The results from this device are accurate and consistent with the facts and will be helpful in the epidemiological studies of mosquito-borne diseases. This device has been registered in the Iran Intellectual Property Office, under the No. of 91585.