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31 Anophelesgambiae female feeding on blood. This is the major vector of malaria in Africa. (Photo bv W. A. Foster.)
Source publication
Mosquitoes occur in practically every region of every continent in the world, except Antarctica. They develop in an extremely broad range of biotic communities: arctic tundra, boreal forests, high mountains, plains, deserts, tropical forests, salt marshes, and ocean tidal zones. The family Culicidae consists of two superfamilies that include all of...
Citations
... Socioeconomic variables, such as sewage, gas connection, and garbage collection service exhibit diverse correlations with dengue cases. Sewage connection is positively correlated and attributed to urban infrastructure and vector ecology (adaptation to breed in manmade environments), including improperly designed systems creating mosquito breeding sites [53][54][55][56]. Conversely, areas with higher gas connection rates tend to have lower dengue incidence, thus reflecting socioeconomic status. ...
Our study examines how dengue fever incidence is associated with spatial (demographic and socioeconomic) alongside temporal (environmental) factors at multiple scales in the city of Ibagué, located in the Andean region of Colombia. We used the dengue incidence in Ibagué from 2013 to 2018 to examine the associations with climate, socioeconomic, and demographic factors from the national census and satellite imagery at four levels of local spatial aggregation. We used geographically weighted regression (GWR) to identify the relevant socioeconomic and demographic predictors, and we then integrated them with environmental variables into hierarchical models using integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) to analyze the spatio-temporal interactions. Our findings show a significant effect of spatial variables across the different levels of aggregation, including human population density, gas and sewage connection, percentage of woman and children, and percentage of population with a higher education degree. Lagged temporal variables displayed consistent patterns across all levels of spatial aggregation, with higher temperatures and lower precipitation at short lags showing an increase in the relative risk (RR). A comparative evaluation of the models at different levels of aggregation revealed that, while higher aggregation levels often yield a better overall model fit, finer levels offer more detailed insights into the localized impacts of socioeconomic and demographic variables on dengue incidence. Our results underscore the importance of considering macro and micro-level factors in epidemiological modeling, and they highlight the potential for targeted public health interventions based on localized risk factor analyses. Notably, the intermediate levels emerged as the most informative, thereby balancing spatial heterogeneity and case distribution density, as well as providing a robust framework for understanding the spatial determinants of dengue.
... Socioeconomic variables, such as sewage, gas connection, and garbage collection service, exhibit diverse correlations with DENV cases. Sewage connection is positively correlated, attributed to urban infrastructure and vector ecology (adaptation to breed in manmade environments), including improperly designed systems creating mosquito breeding sites [54][55][56][57]. Conversely, areas with higher gas connection rates tend to have lower DENV incidence, reflecting socioeconomic status. ...
Our study examines how dengue incidence is associated with spatial (demographic and socioeconomic) alongside temporal (environmental) factors at multiple scales. We used the incidence of dengue in Ibagué, Colombia, from 2013 to 2018, to examine the associations with climate, socioeconomic and demographic factors from the census and satellite imagery at various levels of local spatial aggregation, including Manzanas, Secciones, Sectores, and Comunas. Our findings show a significant effect of spatial variables at finer levels of aggregation, showing varying degrees of correlation with dengue incidence. Temporal variables such as temperature and precipitation displayed consistent patterns across all spatial levels, with notable variations in Relative Risk (RR). Our study employs Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to identify relevant socioeconomic and demographic predictors. Then, these predictors were integrated into hierarchical models implemented in Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) at each spatial level to assess spatiotemporal interactions. We comprehensively analyzed the three distinct models developed for each level: spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal. A comparative evaluation of the models reveals that while higher aggregation levels often yield a better overall model fit, finer levels offer more detailed insights into the localized impacts of socioeconomic and demographic variables on dengue incidence. Our results underscore the importance of considering macro and micro-level factors in epidemiological modeling and highlight the potential for targeted public health interventions based on localized risk factor analysis. Notably, the intermediate level Secciones emerged as the most informative, balancing spatial heterogeneity and case distribution density, thereby providing a robust framework for understanding the spatial determinants of dengue.
... Transmission of disease-causing pathogens and parasites occurs when female mosquitoes feed on vertebrate blood, a behavior required for reproduction in most species. Of the approximately 3500 species of mosquito, high human morbidity and mortality results from disease transmission by relatively few species from the genera Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex (Foster and Walker 2019;Reidenbach et al. 2009). In many cases, the life histories of these mosquitoes are closely linked to that of humans: they rest in human domiciles, use human-generated water sources for oviposition, mate in enclosed spaces, and readily accept humans as vertebrate blood hosts (Besansky et al. 1994;Crawford et al. 2017;Fonseca et al. 2004). ...
Efficiency of mosquito-borne disease transmission is dependent upon both the preference and fidelity of mosquitoes as they seek the blood of vertebrate hosts. While mosquitoes select their blood hosts through multi-modal integration of sensory cues, host-seeking is primarily an odor-guided behavior. Differences in mosquito responses to hosts and their odors have been demonstrated to have a genetic component, but the underlying genomic architecture of these responses has yet to be fully resolved. Here, we provide the first characterization of the genomic architecture of host preference in the polymorphic mosquito species, Culex pipiens. The species exists as two morphologically identical bioforms, each with distinct avian and mammalian host preferences. Cx. pipiens females with empirically measured host responses were prepared into reduced representation DNA libraries and sequenced to identify genomic regions associated with host preference. Multiple genomic regions associated with host preference were identified on all 3 Culex chromosomes, and these genomic regions contained clusters of chemosensory genes, as expected based on work in Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes and in Aedes aegypti. One odorant receptor and one odorant binding protein gene showed one-to-one orthologous relationships to differentially expressed genes in A. gambiae complex members with divergent host preferences. Overall, our work identifies a distinct set of odorant receptors and odorant binding proteins that may enable Cx. pipiens females to distinguish between their vertebrate blood host species, and opens avenues for future functional studies that could measure the unique contributions of each gene to host preference phenotypes.
... Molecular tools and analyses are especially important to distinguish morphologically similar species. The banding pattern of chromosomes, isoenzyme profiles, DNA probes, the analysis of DNA restriction fragments, cytogenetic physical methods, the analysis of nucleotide sequences of target genes, and barcoding and metabarcoding have been employed as routine molecular methods [6,15,17]. ...
... The family Culicidae currently has more than 3,500 species worldwide, classified into two subfamilies (Anophelinae and Culicinae), that play key roles in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecoregions [6,57,58]. These insects occupy all available niches due to their immense morphological variation and adaptability, characterizing them as the most successful beings on the planet [59], and are remarkably diverse in tropical forests [60,61]. ...
... In nature, adult forms of Culicidae, of both sexes, first feed on sugary solutions (plant nectar or honeydew) for obtaining energy for sexual maturation, flight dispersion, mating, and finally, host finding. In the latter, only female insects feed on vertebrate blood for egg development and maturation, and offspring establishment [5,6]. ...
Mosquitoes are vectors of many pathogens, including viruses, protozoans, and helminths, spreading these pathogens to humans as well as to wild and domestic animals. As the identification of species and the biological characterization of mosquito vectors are cornerstones for understanding patterns of disease transmission, and the design of control strategies, we conducted a literature review on the current use of noninvasive and nondestructive techniques for pathogen detection in mosquitoes, highlighting the importance of their taxonomic status and systematics, and some gaps in the knowledge of their vectorial capacity. Here, we summarized the alternative techniques for pathogen detection in mosquitoes based on both laboratory and field studies. Parasite infection and dissemination by mosquitoes can also be obtained via analyses of saliva- and excreta-based techniques or of the whole mosquito body, using a near-infrared spectrometry (NIRS) approach. Further research should be encouraged to seek strategies for detecting target pathogens while preserving mosquito morphology, especially in biodiversity hotspot regions, thus enabling the discovery of cryptic or new species, and the determination of more accurate taxonomic, parasitological, and epidemiological patterns.
... Malaria, along with AIDS and tuberculosis, are the three most important infectious diseases in the world (Durden and Mullen 2002;Foster and Walker, 2002;WHO, 2013). ...
Most female mosquitoes consume blood and transmit diseases.
The aim of this study was to investigate the mosquito species composition, behavior, distribution and abundance of Anopheles mosquito and their potentials in malaria transmission in major riverine communities of three selected areas of Taraba state, Nigeria- Ardo Kola, Bali and Donga covering the seasons of the year, 2015 – 2017 Pyrethrum Spray Catch method was employed for mosquito sampling and were sorted out morphologically. Identified Anopheles gambiae complex was further analysed to identify molecular species using PCR-RLFP. ELISA was used to detect sporozoite protein and Human Blood antigen in fed Anopheles
A total of 4,370 mosquitoes were collected comprising of five genera: Anopheles 2,186 (50.0%), Culex 1,987 (45.5%), Mansonia 127 (3.0%), Sabethes 36 (0.8%), Toxorynchites 19 (0.4%) and Aedes 15 (0.3%). Mosquito species abundance in relation to study sites was; Ardo Kola 1562 (35.6%), Bali 1408 (32.2%) and Donga 1399 (32.0%). Anopheles was the predominant species in Ardo Kola 1319 (84.4%), Culex species was predominant in Bali 823 (58.4%) and Donga 999 (71.4%). The behaiour and density of Anopheles coluzzii, Anophees rivulorum and Anopheles constani qualify them as the main malaria vectors in study area.
... Similarly, although less well documented, vector mosquitoes also contribute significantly to livestock and wildlife disease transmission (Mroz et al. 2017). The distribution of mosquitoes has been well studied in tropical and temperate regions worldwide (Atoni et al. 2019;Foster & Walker 2019;Martinet et al. 2019) with biotic and abiotic factors largely shaping mosquito community composition (Biteye et al. 2018;Akpan et al. 2019;Cane et al. 2020;Mouatassem et al. 2020). There is, however, continued scope for further exploration in this regard, given that changing environmental conditions and biological invasions are resulting in shifts in distribution of known vectors, and the presence of new vector mosquito species and associated pathogens (Weyl et al. 2019;Pereira dos Santos et al. 2018). ...
Spatial distribution of vector mosquitoes plays a critical role in the dynamics of associated diseases' spread across diverse landscapes. In Botswana, six Districts are implicated as malaria endemic zones, one of which is the Central District comprising both malaria endemic and non-endemic sub-districts. Despite being the biggest in the country, mosquito diversity in this District is under-explored, more so in the malaria non-endemic sub-districts. Here, we thus sampled mosquito adults and larvae from the malaria endemic sub-district of Bobirwa and non-endemic sub-districts of Palapye and Serowe, to determine spatial mosquito abundance and diversity in the District. Overall, all the sub-districts had a representation of key mosquito taxa of medical and economic importance (Aedes, Culex and Anopheles), irrespective of malarial endemicity status. Bobirwa had the highest number of mosquitoes sampled (429) although the greatest species richness (0.8511) was observed from Palapye. Moreover, Palapye also recorded a species from another genus, Culiseta longiareolata, a known natural vector of avian malaria parasites. Given global climate shift projections for the region, there is a need for continuous area-wide surveillance for vector mosquitoes and associated parasites in curbing the risk of emerging and re-emerging infections. While the Anopheles-centric approach to mosquito control is still necessary, a holistic approach, incorporating other vector incriminated mosquito species is warranted, particularly given shifting climates and the presence of invasive disease associated vector mosquito species.
... No detection of Plasmodium from the samples collected from Jammu and Kashmir may be due to the low sample size (n = 11) or distribution status of avian malaria vectors. All culicines of the genera Anopheles, Culex, and Aedes have been found to act as vectors of avian malaria [47,48]. The records of Culex and Aedes species were found to be fair enough compared to the Anopheles species in Jammu and Kashmir [49,50], which suggests that a low sample size may be the reason for the non-detection of Plasmodium in this state. ...
Purpose
Avian haemosporidian may affect the host from body damage to the extinction of a population. Knowledge of their status may help in future avifauna conservation plans. Hence, their status in two bird groups of India and their phylogenetic relationships with other known lineages of the world were examined.
Methods
Cytochrome b gene sequences (479 bp) generated from India and available at MalAvi database were used to study the avian haemosporidian prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of lineages at local and world levels.
Results
One common (COLL2) and only once in the study (CYOPOL01, CHD01, CYORUB01, EUMTHA01, GEOCIT01) haemosporidian lineages were discovered. 5.88% prevalence of haemosporidian infection was found in 102 samples belonging to 6 host species. Haemoproteus prevalence was 4.90% across five host species (Phylloscopus trochiloides, Cyornis poliogenys, C. hainanus dialilaemus, C. rubeculoides, Eumiyas thalassinus) and Plasmodium prevalence was 0.98% in Geokichla citrina. Spatial phylogeny at the global level showed that COLL2 lineage, found in C. poliogenys in India, was genetically identical to H. pallidus lineages (COLL2) in parts of Africa, Europe, North America, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The Plasmodium lineage (GEOCIT01) was related to PADOM16 in Egypt, but the sequences were only 93.89% alike.
Conclusions
Four new lineages of Haemoproteus and one of Plasmodium were reported. COLL2 similarity with other H. pallidus lineages may suggest their hosts as possible infection sources.
... Drawing of adult female mosquito mouthparts (labium, stylets, and structure variation at tips). Image obtained with permissions [27]. (B) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs displaying different mosquito proboscis parts (maxilla, labrum, pharynx). ...
... The hypopharynx releases saliva enriched with Drawing of adult female mosquito mouthparts (labium, stylets, and structure variation at tips). Image obtained with permissions [27]. (B) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs displaying different mosquito proboscis parts (maxilla, labrum, pharynx). ...
Mosquitoes are commonly viewed as pests and deadly predators by humans. Despite this perception, investigations of their survival-based behaviors, select anatomical features, and biological composition have led to the creation of several beneficial technologies for medical applications. In this review, we briefly explore these mosquito-based innovations by discussing how unique characteristics and behaviors of mosquitoes drive the development of select biomaterials and medical devices. Mosquito-inspired microneedles have been fabricated from a variety of materials, including biocompatible metals and polymers, to mimic of the mouthparts that some mosquitoes use to bite a host with minimal injury during blood collection. The salivary components that these mosquitoes use to reduce the clotting of blood extracted during the biting process provide a rich source of anticoagulants that could potentially be integrated into blood-contacting biomaterials or administered in therapeutics to reduce the risk of thrombosis. Mosquito movement, vision, and olfaction are other behaviors that also have the potential for inspiring the development of medically relevant technologies. For instance, viscoelastic proteins that facilitate mosquito movement are being investigated for use in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Even the non-wetting nanostructure of a mosquito eye has inspired the creation of a robust superhydrophobic surface coating that shows promise for biomaterial and drug delivery applications. Additionally, biosensors incorporating mosquito olfactory receptors have been built to detect disease-specific volatile organic compounds. Advanced technologies derived from mosquitoes, and insects in general, form a research area that is ripe for exploration and can uncover potential in further dissecting mosquito features for the continued development of novel medical innovations.
... These belong to the Culicidae family (Diptera: Nematocera), which comprises about 3200 recognized species. Tropical rainforests, where fauna is more diverse but less well surveyed than temperate regions, probably house many more as-yet undiscovered species [4]. The Ae. aegypti mosquito is a predominantly domestic species, usually infesting natural or artificial containers in or around dwellings. ...
The Culicidae family has two of the most important disease vector genus: Aedes spp. and Culex spp. Both of these are involved in the transmission of arboviruses. Here, we provide novel data for the geographical distribution of 2,383 specimens in the Culicidae family. We also report the percentage of houses infested with these vectors, and Shannon and Simpson diversity indices in three municipalities located in Cauca, Colombia. This dataset is relevant for research on vector-borne diseases because Aedes spp. can transmit arboviruses such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya, and Culex spp. is a well-known vector of West Nile virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis.
... At the end of the fourth instar, the larvae go through a non-feeding stage called the pupal phase, which lasts approximately two days. The lifespan of an adult mosquito changes according to environmental circumstances but generally ranges from two to four weeks ( Figure 1) (81,83,84). ...
Aedes aegypti is one of the world’s most dangerous mosquitoes, and a vector of diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya virus, yellow fever, and Zika virus disease. Currently, a major global challenge is the scarcity of antiviral medicine and vaccine for arboviruses. Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis (Bti) toxins are used as biological mosquito control agents. Endotoxins, including Cry4Aa, Cry4Ba, Cry10Aa, Cry11Aa, and Cyt1Aa, are toxic to mosquitoes. Insect eradication by Cry toxin relies primarily on the interaction of cry toxins with key toxin receptors, such as aminopeptidase (APN), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cadherin (CAD), and ATP-binding cassette transporters. The carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) of lectins and domains II and III of Cry toxins share similar structural folds, suggesting that midgut proteins, such as C-type lectins (CTLs), may interfere with interactions among Cry toxins and receptors by binding to both and alter Cry toxicity. In the present review, we summarize the functional role of C-type lectins in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and the mechanism underlying the alteration of Cry toxin activity by CTLs. Furthermore, we outline future research directions on elucidating the Bti resistance mechanism. This study provides a basis for understanding Bti resistance, which can be used to develop novel insecticides.
