Colonization of Anopheles coustani, a neglected malaria vector in Madagascar

Anopheles coustani has long be recognized as a secondary malaria vector in Africa. It has recently been involved in the transmission of both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in Madagascar. As most secondary malaria vector, An. coustani is mainly biting outdoor, which renders the control of this mosquito species difficult by the classical malaria control measures as the use of bed nets or indoor residual spraying of insecticides. The absence of a colony hinders a better understanding of its biology and vector competence towards the development of adapted mosquito control strategies. Here, we report the first successful establishment of an An. coustani colony from mosquito collected in Madagascar. We used a forced copulation procedure as this mosquito species will not mate in cages. We describe our mosquito colonization procedure with detailed biological features as larval to adult development and survival, recorded over the first six critical generations. The procedure should be easily applicable to An. coustani from different African countries, facilitating local investigation on An. coustani vector competence and insecticide resistance using the colony as a reference.