Biting time of day in malaria mosquitoes is modulated by nutritional status.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Vector-borne disease transmission follows daily rhythms because the transmission of pathogens occur at the time of day vectors forage for blood. Insecticide-treated bed nets significantly reduce malaria transmission by interrupting the host seeking behaviour of Anopheles spp. mosquitoes, yet residual transmission is an increasing problem. Biting when humans are unprotected by bed nets is thought to be a driver of residual transmission, but why mosquitoes are shifting their biting rhythms is poorly understood. We test whether food availability, which mediates activity and foraging rhythms across diverse animal taxa, influences the time of day that mosquitoes bite.

Methodology

We varied the amount of blood and sucrose that female Anopheles g

SUBMITTER: Oke CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12247726 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature