Gates Open Research Open Peer Review Discuss this article (1) Comments RESEARCH ARTICLE A superhydrophobic cone to facilitate the xenomonitoring of filarial parasites, malaria, and trypanosomes using mosquito excreta/feces [version 2; referees: 2 approved] Darren A.N. Cook , Nils Pilotte , Corrado Minetti , Steven A. Williams , Lisa J. Reimer 1 Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063, USA Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA Abstract Molecular xenomonitoring (MX), the testing of insect vectors for Background: the presence of human pathogens, has the potential to provide a non-invasive and cost-effective method for monitoring the prevalence of disease within a community. Current MX methods require the capture and processing of large numbers of mosquitoes, particularly in areas of low endemicity, increasing the time, cost and labour required. Screening the excreta/feces (E/F) released from mosquitoes, rather than whole carcasses, improves the throughput by removing the need to discriminate vector species since non-vectors release ingested pathogens in E/F. It also enables larger numbers of mosquitoes to be processed per pool. However, this new screening approach requires a method of efficiently collecting E/F. We developed a cone with a superhydrophobic surface to allow for Methods: the efficient collection of E/F. Using mosquitoes exposed to either Plasmodium , or we tested the falciparum Brugia malayi Trypanosoma brucei brucei, performance of the superhydrophobic cone alongside two other collection methods. All collection methods enabled the detection of DNA from the three Results: parasites. Using the superhydrophobic cone to deposit E/F into a small tube provided the highest number of positive samples (16 out of 18) and facilitated detection of parasite DNA in E/F from individual mosquitoes. Further tests showed that following a simple washing step, the cone can be reused multiple times, further improving its cost-effectiveness. Incorporating the superhydrophobic cone into mosquito traps or Conclusions: holding containers could provide a simple and efficient method for collecting E/F. Where this is not possible, swabbing the container or using the washing method facilitates the detection of the three parasites used in this study. Keywords Xenomonitoring, malaria, filariasis, Trypanosoma, Brugia, Plasmodium, Anopheles, superhydrophobic 1 2,3 1 2,3 1 1 2 3 Referee Status: Invited Referees version 2 published 27 Apr 2018 version 1 published 06 Nov 2017 1 2 report report , University of Dziedzom K. de Souza Ghana, Ghana 1 , La Trobe Warwick N. Grant University, Australia 2 06 Nov 2017, :7 ( First published: 1 ) https://doi.org/10.12688/gatesopenres.12749.1 27 Apr 2018, :7 ( Latest published: 1 ) https://doi.org/10.12688/gatesopenres.12749.2 v2 Page 1 of 15 Gates Open Research 2018, 1:7 Last updated: 09 NOV 2018