Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday July 28 2020, @02:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the https://youtube.com/watch?v=XZubL4mZ5n0 dept.

New study reveals how day- and night-biting mosquitoes respond differently to colors of light and time of day:

The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine-led team studied mosquito species that bite in the daytime (Aedes aegypti, aka the Yellow Fever mosquito) and those that bite at night (Anopheles coluzzi, a member of the Anopheles gambiae family, the major vector for malaria). They found distinct responses to ultraviolet light and other colors of light between the two species.

[...] We find that day-biting mosquitoes are attracted to a wide range of light spectra during the daytime, whereas night-biting mosquitoes are strongly photophobic to short-wavelength light during the daytime," said principal investigator Todd C. Holmes, PhD, a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the UCI School of Medicine. "Our results show that timing and light spectra are critical for species-specific light control of harmful mosquitoes."

[...] The new work shows that day-biting mosquitoes, particularly females that require blood meals for their fertilized eggs, are attracted to light during the day regardless of spectra. In contrast, night-biting mosquitoes specifically avoid ultraviolet (UV) and blue light during the day.

[...] "Light is the primary regulator of circadian rhythms and evokes a wide range of time-of-day specific behaviors," said Holmes. "By gaining an understanding of how insects respond to short wavelength light in a species-specific manner, we can develop new, environmentally friendly alternatives to controlling harmful insects more effectively and reduce the need for environmentally damaging toxic pesticides."

Journal Reference:
Lisa S. Baik, Ceazar Nave, David D. Au, et al. Circadian Regulation of Light-Evoked Attraction and Avoidance Behaviors in Daytime- versus Nighttime-Biting Mosquitoes, (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.010)


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:39AM (2 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:39AM (#1027983) Journal

    Don't forget that critters that tend to overpopulate (which would be most insects) also have die-off cycles, and it's often localized.

    I refer you to this. [wikipedia.org]

    --
    I believe there's a person out there for everybody.
    My person happened to be several cats.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:52AM (1 child)

    by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:52AM (#1027989) Homepage

    As I recall, that was discredited for being mere spot evaluations, hardly representative of global populations.

    --
    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:34PM

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:34PM (#1028126) Journal

      As I recall, that was discredited for being mere spot evaluations, hardly representative of global populations.

      Actually read the page, then look through the references on the bottom. There is no "that." The page incorporates a summary of six completely independent studies, with references to more available via links, and they all agree: the problem is real. There's no way around it other than continuing to ride the #fakenews train.

      --
      Science. It's like religion. Except real.