Effect of the Anesthetizing Agent Triethylamine on Western Equine Encephalomyelitis and St. Louis Encephalitis Viral Titers in Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract
Triethylamine (TEA) is a chemical compound that provides an effective means to anesthetize mosquitoes. The mosquitoes remain alive but are incapacitated for several hours; they do not recover following treatment. There was no effect on the titers of infectious virus recovered from western equine encephalomyelitis or St. Louis encephalitis virusinfected Culex tarsalis Coquillett and Aedes dorsalis (Meigen) that were anesthetized with TEA prior to storage at −70°C. Furthermore, TEA had no effect on isoenzyme profiles of uninfected Cx. tarsalis.