Correlating electropenetrography waveforms with transcriptomic profiles in Aedes aegypti

Electropenetrography (EPG) is an essential technique for recording the electrical signals associated with arthropod feeding behaviors, particularly in piercing-sucking insects. This method has been instrumental in developing waveform libraries for blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes and midges, which are harmful vectors of pathogens affecting livestock and humans. These libraries represent various feeding behaviors, including salivation, blood ingestion, pathogen inoculation, and termination of feeding that are not typically directly observable. This makes EPG a powerful tool for understanding vector-borne diseases in terms of feeding and pathogen transmission dynamics. However, further data is needed to help support specific waveforms with their associated feeding behaviors. To help address these gaps in our knowledge, we used EPG to interrupt probing of human hands by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes during waveforms L (likely involves salivation) and M (blood ingestion) to assess changes in transcriptome profiles. These data will provide new insights into the changes occurring in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes during probing and help understand the complex processes that underlie feeding behaviors in blood-feeding insects. This will also provide baseline data for comparison in other blood-feeding vector groups.