Publications by authors named "F A Hol"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how Aedes albopictus mosquitoes encode taste stimuli and how these influence their behaviors related to biting, feeding, and laying eggs.
  • - Researchers discovered that different neurons in the mosquitoes' major taste organ respond to various human and other cues, revealing three classes of taste sensilla with different effects, including excitatory and inhibitory responses.
  • - The findings pinpoint specific tastants in human sweat and skin that encourage biting and suggest potential targets for disrupting these behaviors, indicating new strategies for controlling mosquito populations that spread diseases.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Not everyone is equally likely to get bitten by mosquitoes because some people attract them more than others.
  • * Scientists are studying how different human traits affect mosquitoes' biting habits to understand how diseases spread.
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Parasites can manipulate host behavior to enhance transmission, but our understanding of arbovirus-induced changes in mosquito behavior is limited. Here, we explore current knowledge on such behavioral alterations in mosquito vectors, focusing on host-seeking and blood-feeding behaviors. Reviewing studies on dengue, Zika, La Crosse, Sindbis, and West Nile viruses in Aedes or Culex mosquitoes reveals subtle yet potentially significant effects.

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Blood feeding is a critical event in the life cycle of female mosquitoes. In addition to providing nutrients to the mosquito, blood feeding facilitates the transmission of parasites and viruses to hosts, potentially having devastating health consequences. Our understanding of these short, yet important, bouts of behavior is incomplete.

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The biteOscope enables the high-resolution monitoring and video recording of blood-feeding mosquitoes. Mosquito biting is induced by combining host cues, an artificial bloodmeal, a membrane, and a transparent heater in a transparent behavioral arena. Machine vision techniques enable the tracking and pose estimation of individual mosquitoes to discern behavior and resolve individual feeding events.

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