Synthetic Alfalfa Infusion Odour Attracts Gravid Culex quinquefasciatus Under Laboratory Conditions.

Gravid culicine mosquitoes rely on olfactory cues for selecting breeding sites containing organic detritus. While this capacity of the mosquitoes is used for surveillance and control, the current methodology is unwieldy, unreliable and expensive in time and labour. This study evaluated the dose-dependent attraction and oviposition response of gravid Culex quinquefasciatus to alfalfa infusions.

Fermenting molasses and a synthetic odour blend to attract blood-fed Anopheles coluzzii.

Collecting blood-fed mosquitoes to monitor pathogen presence or to gather information on the host blood meal is often challenging. Fermenting molasses can be used to produce carbon dioxide to attract host-seeking mosquitoes, however, earlier work indicated that it may also attract blood-fed mosquitoes in the field. In the current study, these field results were validated in an experimental setting using a large cage setup with Anopheles coluzzii (Diptera, Culicidae).

Odor-mediated response of gravid Aedes aegypti to mosquito-associated symbiotic bacteria.

Complex oviposition decisions allow gravid Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to select suitable sites for egg-laying to increase the probability that their progeny will thrive. The bacterial communities present in larval niches influence mosquito oviposition behavior, and gravid mosquitoes transmit key microbial associates to breeding sites during oviposition. Our study evaluated whether symbiotic Klebsiella sp.

Development of a chimeric odour blend for attracting gravid malaria vectors.

Background: Odour-based tools targeting gravid malaria vectors may complement existing intervention strategies. Anopheles arabiensis are attracted to, and stimulated to oviposit by, natural and synthetic odours of wild and domesticated grasses associated with mosquito breeding sites. While such synthetic odour lures may be used for vector control, these may have limited efficacy when placed in direct competition with the natural source.

Sweet attraction: sugarcane pollen-associated volatiles attract gravid Anopheles arabiensis.

Background: Anopheles arabiensis is a key vector for the transmission of human malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past 10,000 years, humans have successfully cultivated grasses and altered the landscape, creating An. arabiensis favourable environments that contain excellent habitats for both larvae and adults.

A(maize)ing attraction: gravid Anopheles arabiensis are attracted and oviposit in response to maize pollen odours.

Background: Maize cultivation contributes to the prevalence of malaria mosquitoes and exacerbates malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. The pollen from maize serves as an important larval food source for Anopheles mosquitoes, and females that are able to detect breeding sites where maize pollen is abundant may provide their offspring with selective advantages. Anopheles mosquitoes are hypothesized to locate, discriminate among, and select such sites using olfactory cues, and that synthetic volatile blends can mimic these olfactory-guided behaviours.

Rice volatiles lure gravid malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles arabiensis.

Mosquito oviposition site selection is essential for vector population dynamics and malaria epidemiology. Irrigated rice cultivations provide ideal larval habitats for malaria mosquitoes, which has resulted in increased prevalence of the malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis, in sub-Saharan Africa. The nature and origin of the cues regulating this behaviour are only now being elucidated.