Cross-modal sensory compensation increases mosquito attraction to humans.

Sensory compensation occurs when loss of one sense leads to enhanced perception by another sense. We have identified a previously undescribed mechanism of sensory compensation in female mosquitoes. Odorant receptor co-receptor () mutants show enhanced attraction to human skin temperature and increased heat-evoked neuronal activity in foreleg sensory neurons.

Next-generation neuropeptide Y receptor small-molecule agonists inhibit mosquito-biting behavior.

Background: Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can spread disease-causing pathogens when they bite humans to obtain blood nutrients required for egg production. Following a complete blood meal, host-seeking is suppressed until eggs are laid. Neuropeptide Y-like receptor 7 (NPYLR7) plays a role in endogenous host-seeking suppression and previous work identified small-molecule NPYLR7 agonists that inhibit host-seeking and blood-feeding when fed to mosquitoes at high micromolar doses.

Next Generation Neuropeptide Y Receptor Small Molecule Agonists Inhibit Mosquito Biting Behavior.

Female mosquitoes can spread disease-causing pathogens when they bite humans to obtain blood nutrients required for egg production. Following a complete blood meal, host-seeking is suppressed until eggs are laid. Neuropeptide Y-like Receptor 7 (NPYLR7) plays a role in endogenous host-seeking suppression and previous work identified small molecule NPYLR7 agonists that suppress host-seeking and blood feeding when fed to mosquitoes at high micromolar doses.

Two novel, tightly linked, and rapidly evolving genes underlie mosquito reproductive resilience during drought.

Female mosquitoes impose a severe global public health burden as vectors of multiple viral pathogens. Under optimal environmental conditions, females have access to human hosts that provide blood proteins for egg development, conspecific males that provide sperm for fertilization, and freshwater that serves as an egg-laying substrate suitable for offspring survival. As global temperatures rise, females are faced with climate challenges like intense droughts and intermittent precipitation, which create unpredictable, suboptimal conditions for egg-laying.

Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels.

Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years.