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Flight tone characterisation of the South American malaria vector Anopheles darlingi (Diptera: Culicidae)
Montoya, Jose Pablo; Pantoja-Sánchez, Hoover; Gomez, Sebastian; Avila, Frank William; Alfonso-Parra, Catalina.
  • Montoya, Jose Pablo; Universidad CES. Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical. Sabaneta. CO
  • Pantoja-Sánchez, Hoover; Universidad de Antioquia. Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónica. Medellín. CO
  • Gomez, Sebastian; Universidad CES. Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical. Sabaneta. CO
  • Avila, Frank William; Universidad de Antioquia. Max Planck Tandem Group in Mosquito Reproductive Biology. Medellín. CO
  • Alfonso-Parra, Catalina; Universidad CES. Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical. Sabaneta. CO
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz ; 116: e200497, 2021. graf
Article in English | LILACS | ID: biblio-1154873
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND Flight tones play important roles in mosquito reproduction. Several mosquito species utilise flight tones for mate localisation and attraction. Typically, the female wingbeat frequency (WBF) is lower than males, and stereotypic acoustic behaviors are instrumental for successful copulation. Mosquito WBFs are usually an important species characteristic, with female flight tones used as male attractants in surveillance traps for species identification. Anopheles darlingi is an important Latin American malaria vector, but we know little about its mating behaviors. OBJECTIVES We characterised An. darlingi WBFs and examined male acoustic responses to immobilised females. METHODS Tethered and free flying male and female An. darlingi were recorded individually to determine their WBF distributions. Male-female acoustic interactions were analysed using tethered females and free flying males. FINDINGS Contrary to most mosquito species, An. darlingi females are smaller than males. However, the male's WBF is ~1.5 times higher than the females, a common ratio in species with larger females. When in proximity to a female, males displayed rapid frequency modulations that decreased upon genitalia engagement. Tethered females also modulated their frequency upon male approach, being distinct if the interaction ended in copulation or only contact. MAIN CONCLUSIONS This is the first report of An. darlingi flight acoustics, showing that its precopulatory acoustics are similar to other mosquitoes despite the uncommon malefemale size ratio, suggesting that WBF ratios are common communication strategies rather than a physical constraint imposed by size.
Subject(s)


Full text: Available Index: LILACS (Americas) Main subject: Mosquito Vectors / Malaria / Anopheles Type of study: Prognostic study Limits: Animals Language: English Journal: Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz Journal subject: Tropical Medicine / Parasitology Year: 2021 Type: Article Affiliation country: Colombia Institution/Affiliation country: Universidad CES/CO / Universidad de Antioquia/CO

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Full text: Available Index: LILACS (Americas) Main subject: Mosquito Vectors / Malaria / Anopheles Type of study: Prognostic study Limits: Animals Language: English Journal: Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz Journal subject: Tropical Medicine / Parasitology Year: 2021 Type: Article Affiliation country: Colombia Institution/Affiliation country: Universidad CES/CO / Universidad de Antioquia/CO