A group of researchers from the Graduate School of Science at Nagoya University in central Japan have developed a new method that may help control mosquito populations. The mosquitoes make a buzzing sound when they fly.
People sitting outside on warm summer nights are not the only ones affected by mosquitoes. They spread diseases that kill thousands of people each year. Reducing mosquito populations is important. Mosquitoes have developed resistance to commonly used pesticides. They affect the environment in a negative way. There are alternatives for mosquito control.
The most annoying feature of mosquitoes is their high-pitched buzzing. Females make this sound as they look for blood. The male mosquitoes listen for this noise. The male mosquito ears are similar to the female mosquito's wings. The male's ears send a signal to their brain that helps them find a mate when a female flies by.
The researchers from Nagoya University wanted to know if they could change the frequencies at which mosquitoes listen to females. They wanted to change the male mosquitoes' behavior by making their ears out of tune.
Many laboratories around the world are trying to stop mosquitoes from biting people. We take a different approach in our lab. The females that bite humans were never born. Let's make sure there are fewer mosquitoes so that females don't bite humans.
The team wanted to find out if a sound-based method of controlling mosquito populations would work. A wide range of behaviors can be influenced by Serotonin.
The team's next step was to manipulate the levels of the brain chemical. They used a method calledlaser doppler vibrometry. The use of a laser as a highly sensitive measurement tool is involved in this project.
The researchers found that the male ears' frequencies decreased after they were fed a compound. The range of frequencies the mosquitoes responded to, and their response itself, were reduced when the mosquitoes were given a compound that made them sleepy.
Identifying the exact receptors for tuning the ears of mosquitoes will be the next step in the development of a potential ear-based birth control. Researchers might be able to administer targeted compounds to disrupt sex. "My dream is to find a target that is specific to mosquitoes," said Dr. Su. If we left other species unaffected, we could.
It was published in a journal.
The Aedes aegypti ear affects hearing. The book is titled "Fphys.
Journal information: Frontiers in Physiology
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