1. Preservation and shipping mosquito samples
Aklilu Seyoum
July 2015

2. Introduction
Mosquito collected from the field should be handled with care and be preserved and stored properly for molecular analysis and other biological tests.
Proper handling and preservation are key to achieve the intended objectives of mosquito collections.

3. Methods of preserving mosquitoes using silica gel
Figure 1. A picture of a holding cup having live mosquitoes.
Add a few drops of chloroform (or ethyl acetate)
to a pad of coon wool and place it on top of the netting
of the paper cup.

4. Killing mosquitoes with chloroform or by keeping them at low temperature for few minutes
Transfer to Petri dishes for identifications
Morphological identifications
Record the results into the forms
Transfer individually in to tubes with silica gel or if there is shortage, it is possible to preserve them in batches of five
Label

5. The labels on the tubes must be clear and understandable.
Date
Location
Method
Sample ID
Species (morphological)

6. Figure 2. Pictures of Eppendorf tubes and some containing silica gel and cotton wool.

7. Figure 4. Pictures showing mosquitoes being placed in the Eppendorf tube (left).

10. Thank you!