Our Insectary:
The Insectary is a Unit under the Disease Surveillance and Epidemic Response Section of NAVRC.
The NAVRC Insectary is a reference point for different Mosquito genera and species. It is maintained to care for vectors/intermediate hosts involved in the transmission of Yellow Fever, Malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, for the purpose of study; such that vector control which is the core mandate of the Centre is effectively achieved.
Mosquito Genera in the Insectary:
The Insectary Unit maintains functional colonies of Aedes species, Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes. Two species of Aedes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus have been maintained for over 30 years in the Insectary.
Culex colony: The Unit maintains colonies of two species of Culex mosquitoes: Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex nigripalpus.
Anopheles colony: It also maintains functional colony of Anopheles gambiae s.s (kisumu)
Methods of feeding of the Mosquitoes:
The Aedes mosquitoes are blood-fed twice a week- Mondays and Friday.
The mosquito larvae are fed with animal feeds three times a week- Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Routine Activities in the Insectary:
- Cleaning to prevent microbial growth that may threaten the survival of the insect colonies.
- Feeding the larvae and the adult mosquitoes, and preventing the insect food from growing moldy
- Constant check of the conditions for the survival of the mosquito vectors species-temperature, humidity, and light.
- Maintaining constant schedule for routine tasks at the Insectary eg time for the feeding of the larvae, periods for egg collection, time to blood feed adult mosquito.
- Separation of pupae from larvae.
Animal House:
The animal house is a sub-unit of the Insectary maintained for rearing of animals for blood feeding of the female mosquitoes for egg maturation.
Insectary Opportunities:
The Insectary offers many opportunities such as:
- The Insectary is a knowledge repository for both Undergraduates and Post graduates researchers in the field of entomology;
- Source of materials for entomological research for the Universities and Independent researchers;
- Susceptibility status and other Entomological data are made feasible through studies from the Insectary;
- The Insectary is a structure for human capacity building;
- Source of materials such as Mosquito eggs, larvae and adults;
- The Insectary is opened for services between 8am to 4pm, Mondays to Fridays.
