Maize pollen diet enhances malaria mosquito longevity and infectivity to Plasmodium parasites in Ethiopia

Abstract Although larval diet quality may affect adult mosquito fitness, its impact on parasite development is scarce. The effects of ultraviolet-sterilized Zea mays, Typha latifolia and Prosopis juliflora plant pollen diets on larval development, pupation rate, adult survival, and parasite infectivity were investigated. Four treatment groups and two control groups were used for each pollen diet, and each experimental tray had 25 larvae. Control larvae fed on Tetramin fish food. Female An. arabiensis were starved overnight and exposed to infectious blood using a membrane-feeding technique. The Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test were used for analysis. The Z. mays pollen diet increased malaria mosquito survival and pupation rate (91.3%) and adult emergence (85%). Zea mays and Tetramin fish food had comparable adulthood development times. Adults who emerged from larvae fed Z. mays pollen had the longest average wing length (3.72mm) and were more permissive to P. vivax (45%) and P. falciparum (27.5%). They also survived longer after feeding on infectious blood and had the highest number of P. vivax oocysts. Z. mays pollen improved larval development, survival, and adult infectivity to Plasmodium. Our findings suggest that malaria transmission in Z. mays growing villages should be monitored.