What is it about?
Mating success in Anopheles gambiae mosquito and observed post mating phenotypes known as: oviposition, resistance to mating and blood quest, by the female A. gambiae, results from the formation of successful swarms defined by their size, commencement of swarm and time in flight. These patterns were followed up in semi field cages and similar patterns to what is observed in the wild was identified.
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Why is it important?
Vector control of the mosquito as a way to seriously reduce the malaria burden depends on how well the circardian clock of this vector works. One key aspect of the daily cycle of Anopheles gambiae mosquito is the formation of swarms which occurs at dusk and goes on for a few hours before it actually gets dark. The swarm is initiated by males with aim to lure virgin females into it for mating and when this occurs, the females go in search for a blood meal to complete development of their eggs so they could lay them to complete the reproductive cycle. Understanding these swarm and mating patterns was studied in semi-field enclosures, providing ample space for these activities to occur and parameters recorded were: start and end time of flight, time and seasonal shift in start, duration and length in flight and number of eggs laid by females after obtaining blood for egg maturity and laying. Semi-field enclosures were compared to mosquitoes in cages as controls. The observations showed that, swarming patterns for Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in cages are not significantly different from what occurs in the wild and the data could be used for reproductive control of the mosquito.
Perspectives
This study sheds light on the concept of male factors that drive females to getting a blood meal and laying eggs. Though the genetic factors are not too clear, it could be suggested that, swarming is a key element in Anopheles gambiae mosquito life cycle and how effective the mating process occurs defines how successful female post mating events will occur. Previous studies using caged mosquitoes have shown that, males actually transmit a plug to females containing genomic information which the female is expected to process for activation of post mating responsive genes. Therefore, creating transgenic mosquitoes by successfully interrupting the formation of these plugs in males will inhibit efficient mating in swarms if a mass release of such mosquitoes is performed to control mosquito populations and reduce the malaria burden in malaria endemic zones.
Dr Daniel A Achinko
National Institutes of Health
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Swarming and mating activity ofAnopheles gambiaemosquitoes in semi-field enclosures, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, October 2015, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/mve.12143.
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