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Scientists Discover how Mosquitoes Zero in on our Sweat:
Just like fresh-baked cookies or sizzling bacon is to us, the scent of your sweat is a mouthwatering aroma to mosquitoes. Now, scientists have discovered how these undesirable insects zero in on our delectable odor.
It's actually the odor from lactic acid and other acidic volatiles found in human sweat that some mosquitoes are attracted to when seeking a blood meal. A team of researchers from the Laboratory of Tropical Genetics at Florida International University in Miami, has identified a unique olfactory receptor used to detect these odors in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are known to transmit dangerous and sometimes deadly diseases including yellow fever, dengue and Zika. The guilty receptor is known to scientists as Ionotropic Receptor 8a, or simply IR8a.
"People have been looking for more than 40 years," said FIU biologist Matthew DeGennaro, who leads the lab where the discovery was made. "Even in the 1960s, scientists knew it was sweat and lactic acid, but no one knew how those were sensed. Back then, mosquito scientists didn't have genetics."
[...] The FIU team's discovery could give rise to a new generation of attractants to lure adult mosquitoes to traps for population control. It also offers researchers a roadmap for making people invisible—at least to mosquitoes.
"Blocking the IR8a pathway could be an important strategy for repellent design," DeGennaro said.
[...] More information: Joshua I. Raji et al. Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Detect Acidic Volatiles Found in Human Odor Using the IR8a Pathway, Current Biology (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.045
Unable to locate a meal, they will be unable to lay eggs and will starve. How many species rely on mosquitoes for food?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @07:52AM (3 children)
Frost piss down the probiscus of a mosquito, because SN is dead, reduced to mosquito stories, and right wing agit-prop about NZ. Perhaps it is better if we all just leave, and let the mosquitoes have their way with TMB.
(Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Saturday March 30 2019, @11:55AM
Yes, that's like two newsworthy stories out of 15! Oh em gee!
You do realize that he routinely takes them on in their natural environment?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @01:37PM (1 child)
Please don't shut down SN. This is the only news site that brings news to mosquito scientists!
When I was a kid I lived alone with my mom. She used to tell me my dad was a blood sucking mosquito. She often mentioned it in the summer as she smacked a mosquito, leaving the blood and the legs from the mosquito stuck in the dominating hair on her arms. I started collecting the mosquitos, protecting them, because they reminded me of my dad. I put them in small jars with drops of my blood in it. I started studying their dead bodies and one day I said to my mom; "I'm going to be a mosquito scientist!". "YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED. YOU'RE GROUNDED!" she replied and I said "I can do whatever I want mom, I'm 42 years old!" and then I left without as much as cleaning up my room. I was finally going to be a Mosquito Scientist!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @12:28AM
Crawford is that you? I feel his presence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @12:09PM (1 child)
> Unable to locate a meal, ...
Plenty of other mammals around for mosquitoes to bite, just leave me alone!
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday March 31 2019, @03:48AM
And if the bloodsuckers all die off, there are hundreds or even thousands of non-vampiric mosquito species for other critters to eat.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Saturday March 30 2019, @03:05PM (2 children)
From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
Consider yourself lucky for living somewhere where mortality is no longer determined by infestation?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday March 30 2019, @08:07PM (1 child)
> in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are known to transmit dangerous and sometimes deadly diseases including yellow fever, dengue and Zika
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.
Are you afraid yet ?
> could give rise to a new generation of attractants
Good, then buy our upcoming miracle solution !
(beyond the required cynicism, anything that cuts down on mosquitoes is good, as long as it's 1) non-toxic and 2) affordable for the 3rd world)
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday April 01 2019, @04:45PM
I would be happy with non-toxic, non-sticky, non-smelly, and reasonably cheap. While it would be great, if someone who can't afford a meal, could have a good mosquito repellent. I have my doubts as to their being able to afford it. Cheap enough to be sent in aid packages, sure.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Saturday March 30 2019, @04:30PM (2 children)
Mosquito researchers have identified numerous compounds that attract certain mosquitoes at certain times...
I ran a fancy mosquito trap in my yard for a few years, it burned propane to make heat and CO2, it also had chemical attractants - most of the time it caught very little during the month that the propane tank ran for, but once in a great while it would be overstuffed with mosquitoes in a single night. All in all, it didn't make a big difference in our quality of life.
Oil/permethrin based foggers could clear the mosquitoes from the yard pretty effectively for about 6 hours after application (good for parties) but within 48 hours the population would return to normal.
A good sized wood fire would also reduce the number of biting mosquitoes in the yard by about 90-95%, I don't know if it was the heat or CO2 from the fire that got them, but after several years of fighting with the trap and fogger I finally settled on the bonfire as our mosquito control measure of choice.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @02:10AM (1 child)
Another thing that kind of works is a fan. Mosquitos can't fly for shit so if you put a gentle airflow through the area they can't land.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday March 31 2019, @01:08PM
I had one of those fans with a net bag on it by the front door help to keep the front door area clear so that you wouldn't suck mosquitoes in the house every time you open it.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 3, Informative) by doke on Saturday March 30 2019, @11:36PM
"Unable to locate a meal, they will be unable to lay eggs and will starve. How many species rely on mosquitoes for food?"
There are many, many other species of mosquitoes that don't bite humans and spread disease. Nothing will starve if this one (or a few) species is killed off.