Those in love know that anything about their partners can be transfixing. Her perfume, a smell of his hair, even a gentle hum of their voice is enough to open up a mental wonderand. And why should mosquitoes, the pesky hum of whom annoys the hell out of us, should be any different? A new research has now revealed that male mosquitoes’ eyes ‘activate’ when they hear the wingbeat of a female.
The research has been carried out by an international team of researchers at the University of Washington. The study has been published in scientific journal Current Biology.
The species under focus is Anopheles Coluzzii, the mosquitoes of these species spread malaria, still a dreaded disease causing seasonal epidemics in many parts of the world. Female mosquitoes of this species are bearers of the bad news that is the malaria virus.
Most mosquitoes have poor eyesight. The researchers have found that when a male Anopheles mosquito hears the wingbeats of a female, his eyes ‘activate’ and he quickly starts tracing the source of the sound, presumably a female mosquito.
“We have discovered this incredibly strong association in male mosquitoes when they are seeking out a mate: They hear the sound of wingbeats at a specific frequency — the kind that females make — and that stimulus engages the visual system,” said Saumya Gupta, the lead author of the study. Gupta is a postdoctoral Biology researcher at University of Washington. She was quoted by SciTechDaily.
“It shows the complex interplay at work between different mosquito sensory systems.” she added.
So what’s the use of this?
While this ‘capability’ of ‘activating’ its eyes may help the male mosquito find his lady-love, for us, this opens up a possibility to develop a new technique to control populations of malaria-causing Anopheles mosquitoes.
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For example, we can design traps that make sounds similar to that of female mosquito wingbeats. When an unlucky male follows the sound unknowingly, he may meet his end instead of a pretty mosquito-lady.
“This sound is so attractive to males that it causes them to steer toward what they think might be the source, be it an actual female or, perhaps, a mosquito trap,” said Jeffrey Riffel, a University of Washington professor of biology who is a senior author of the study.
