Neurobiology of mosquito swarming behaviour

Most medically relevant mosquito species mate in swarms, which are aggregations of up to hundred mosquitoes that take place at specific times of the day. Within the swarm, mosquitoes recognize the mating partners by acoustically detecting their flight tones. Although the increase of flight activity that characterize swarming behaviour is controlled by the mosquito circadian clock, environmental cues are necessary for proper swarm formation. For malaria mosquitoes, which swarm at dusk, this sensory stimuli are mostly visual and chemical, involving low light intensities, areas of high visual contrast and pheromone release. Therefore, mosquito swarming and mating behaviours are achieved by the integration of multiple sensory modalities involving visual, chemical and auditory stimuli. From an entomological perspective, swarms are ideal targets to control mosquito populations, as they are the sites of mosquito reproduction. Despite this, the molecular pathways underlying mosquito swarming behaviour are largely unknown.

In the lab, we are using omics approaches to identify neuronal pathways that are implicated in inducing malaria mosquito swarming behaviour and in modulating its sensory physiology to adapt it to the swarm environment. Because hearing and swarming behaviour are related mechanisms that mediate mosquito reproduction, some neuromodulators affect both mechanisms. We combine genetic approaches to disrupt candidate neuronal pathways with behavioural tests to study swarming and mating phenotypes. We aim to identify potential molecular targets for mosquito control and to disentangle neuronal pathways that influence mosquito fitness.