Characterization of lab-based swarms of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using 3D-video tracking.

Mosquito copulation is a crucial determinant of its capacity to transmit malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites as well as underpinning several highly-anticipated vector control methodologies such as gene drive and sterile insect technique. For the anopheline mosquitoes responsible for African malaria transmission, mating takes place within crepuscular male swarms which females enter solely to mate. However, the mechanisms that regulate swarm structure or that govern mate choice remain opaque.

() orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests.

In insects, rapidly evolving primary sex-determining signals are transduced by a conserved regulatory module controlling sexual differentiation. In the agricultural pest (Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly), we identified a Y-linked gene, (), encoding a small protein that is necessary and sufficient for male development. Silencing or disruption of in XY embryos causes feminization, whereas overexpression of in XX embryos induces masculinization.