We created a novel database of mosquito images by sampling live mosquitoes from established colonies maintained by the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource (MR4)/ Biodefense and Emerging Infections (BEI) Resources at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. Adults of both sexes were imaged from 15 species of mosquitoes from there genera, 13 Anopheles, 2 Culex and 1 Aedes. There are a total of 1,709 images. We included an additional strain of An. gambiae s.s. resulting in two categories of this species: G3 and KISUMU1. Finally, for An. stephensi we captured images of mosquitoes using the two methods of storing mosquitoes, freezing versus dried samples. Images are folders labeled by genus, species, strain, sex and storage method.

Mosquitoes were observed under a stereomicroscope (Leica M205) with a camera attachment of a 10-megapixel digital camera. A sheet of plain white paper was placed between the light source and the field in order to diffuse the light and reduce shadows in the images. In order to increase the variability of the photos collected to allow for a more robust computational analysis, each mosquito during sampling was oriented randomly to capture the ventral, dorsal, or lateral view. This was easy to accomplish with fresh specimens and only slightly more difficult to accomplish using the dried An. stephensi specimens. The latter tended to fall to the lateral or ventral view, requiring additional time to position them dorsally. Images ranged in magnification randomly from 10 to 40x, with some images capturing the entirety of the specimen including all leg segments, and others cropping out portions of the legs.

The species and strains are the following: Anopheles arabiensis, Strain DONGOLA, MRA-856, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles gambiae, Strain MOPTI, MRA-763, contributed by Gregory C. Lanzaro (now called Anopheles coluzzii); Anopheles gambiae, Strain KISUMU1, MRA-762, contributed by Vincent Corbel; Anopheles gambiae, Strain G3, MRA-112, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles merus, Strain MAF, MRA-1156, contributed by Maureen Coetzee; Anopheles funestus, Strain FUMOZ, MRA-1027B, contributed by Maureen Coetzee; Anopheles farauti 17993, Strain FAR1, MRA-489, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles minimus, Strain MINIMUS1, MRA-729B, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles stephensi, Strain STE2, MRA-128, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles stephensi, Strain STE2, Bulk Frozen, MRA-128, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles albimanus, Strain STECLA, MRA-133B, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles atroparvus, Strain EBRO, MRA-493B, contributed by Carlos Aranda and Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles freeborni, Strain F1, MRA-130, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Strain GORO, MRA-891, contributed by Mark Q. Benedict; Culex quinquefasciatus, Strain JHB, NR-43025; Culex tarsalis YOLO, NR-43026; Aedes aegypti, Strain COSTA RICA, MRA-726, contributed by William G. Brogdon.

Files are labeled using the filenames. The file names are shown as: genus_species_sex_strain_imagenumber.jpg