Malaria mosquitoes mate in swarms, but how these swarms are formed and maintained remains poorly understood. We characterized three-dimensional spatiotemporal flight kinematics of males swarming at sunset above a ground marker. The location, shape, and volume of swarms were highly stereotypic, consistent over the complete swarming duration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClimate change and global warming in the Sahelian region cause dramatic drought and advancing of the desert. This phenomenon could affect the plant survival and community composition, but even for surviving plants, it could affect their phenology and the insect community associated with them. In a space-for-time approach, we studied the case of Pers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFand mosquitoes, two major malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa, exhibit selectivity among plant species as potential food sources. However, it remains unclear if their preference aligns with optimal nutrient intake and survival. Following an extensive screening of the effects of 31 plant species on in Burkina Faso, we selected three species for their contrasting effects on mosquito survival, namely , , and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsects are known for their harmful effects. However, they also benefit humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems. Its beneficial uses include entomophagy and entomotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuccess in reducing malaria transmission through vector control is threatened by insecticide resistance in mosquitoes. Although the proximal molecular mechanisms and genetic determinants involved are well documented, little is known about the influence of the environment on mosquito resistance to insecticides. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of plant sugar feeding on the response of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato to insecticides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe persistence of malaria and the increasing of resistance of Anopheles gambiae species to chemicals remain major public health concerns in sub-Saharan Africa. Faced to these concerns, the search for alternative vector control strategies as use of essential oils (EOs) need to be implemented. Here, the five EOs from Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon nardus, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Lippia multiflora, Ocimum americanum obtained by hydro distillation were tested according to World Health Organization procedures on An.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Entomol
November 2022
Dengue vector control strategies are mostly based on chemicals use against Aedes aegypti populations. The current study aimed at investigating the insecticidal effects of essential oils (EOs) obtained from five plant species, Cymbopogon citrates (D. C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFand are edible insects in Burkina Faso. Our research aimed to evaluate the nutritional composition and functional properties of the defatted flours, protein concentrates, and isolates of and . Proximate and mineral composition were determined according to AOAC methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnnona senegalensis Pers. is a shrub of tropical countries that, during the fruiting period, harbor many insects. All parts of the plant are used and exploited in traditional medicine, food, and firewood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCues involved in mate seeking and recognition prevent hybridization and can be involved in speciation processes. In malaria mosquitoes, females of the two sibling species Anopheles gambiae s.s.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe endosymbiont Wolbachia can have major effects on the reproductive fitness, and vectorial capacity of host insects and may provide new avenues to control mosquito-borne pathogens. Anopheles gambiae s.l is the major vector of malaria in Africa but the use of Wolbachia in this species has been limited by challenges in establishing stable transinfected lines and uncertainty around native infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Some insects are harmful to humans, plants and animals, but some of them can also be a source of proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals and be of therapeutic value. The therapeutic potential requires that medicinal insects and their derived products need to be scrutinized. This study highlights the indigenous knowledge related to their use of medicinal insects in peri-urban and urban areas of Burkina Faso.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most common bacterial species implicated in various types of infections including septicemia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, meningitis and others pathologies. These involve several bacterial clones with multidrug resistance making them difficult to treat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mating behaviour of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae complex is an important aspect of its reproduction biology. The success of mosquito release programmes based on genetic control of malaria crucially depends on competitive mating between both laboratory-reared and wild individuals, and populations from different localities. It is known that intrinsic and extrinsic factors can influence the mating success.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Besides feeding on blood, females of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae sensu lato readily feed on natural sources of plant sugars. The impact of toxic secondary phytochemicals contained in plant-derived sugars on mosquito physiology and the development of Plasmodium parasites remains elusive. The focus of this study was to explore the influence of the alkaloid ricinine, found in the nectar of the castor bean Ricinus communis, on the ability of mosquitoes to transmit Plasmodium falciparum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Chem
August 2021
Edible insects constitute a potential source of alternative proteins as a food supplement. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition, energy and nutritional values, the digestibility and functional properties of Carbula marginella (Thunberg) and Cirina butyrospermi (Vuillet) defatted flour, protein concentrates, and isolates. Carbula marginella has shown the highest content of protein (41.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrop Med Infect Dis
May 2020
In West Africa, remains the major vector of dengue virus. Since 2013, dengue fever has been reemerging in Burkina Faso with annual outbreaks, thus becoming a major public health problem. Its control relies on vector control, which is unfortunately facing the problem of insecticide resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalar J
May 2020
Background: It is assumed that malaria vectors feed on locally available nectar sources to obtain energy. Sugar feeding is energetically critical for the Anopheles male swarming and mating activities. However, little is known about the impact of local nectar feeding on male physiological development and its consequences on male mosquito life traits in the malaria control context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mating swarm segregation in closely related insect species may contribute to reproductive isolation. Visual markers are used for swarm formation; however, it is unknown whether they play a key role in swarm location, species segregation and sex aggregation.
Methods: Using two sympatric closely related species of the Anopheles gambiae complex, An.
Background: The recent resurgence of interest in sterile insect techniques to control vector mosquitoes has renewed interest in novel methods for observing mating behavior. Malarial vectors of the Anopheles gambiae complex are known to mate in swarms at specific locations at dawn and dusk. Most knowledge of mosquito swarming behavior is derived from field observations and a few experimental studies designed to assess critical parameters that affect mosquito swarming.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Vet Sci
May 2019
A severe outbreak of dengue occurred in Burkina Faso in 2016, with the most cases reported in Ouagadougou, that highlights the necessity to implement vector surveillance system. This study aims to estimate the risk of arboviruses transmission and the insecticide susceptibility status of potential vectors in four sites in Burkina Faso. From June to September 2016, house-to-house cross sectional entomological surveys were performed in four cities stretching along a southwest-to-northeast railway transect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVector control constitutes a fundamental approach in reducing vector density and the efficient option to break malaria transmission in Africa. Malaria vectors developed resistance to almost all classes of insecticides recommended by WHO for vector control in most places of African countries and may compromise the vector control strategies. This study updated the resistance status of Anopheles gambiae complex populations to insecticides recommended for vector control in the western part of Burkina Faso.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
April 2019
Background: Insects play an important role as a diet supplement in Burkina Faso, but the preferred insect species vary according to the phytogeographical zone, ethnic groups, and gender. The present study aims at documenting indigenous knowledge on edible insects in Burkina Faso.
Methods: A structured ethno-sociological survey was conducted with 360 informants in nine villages located in two phytogeographical zones of Burkina Faso.