Last Updated: 05/10/2023
How do malaria mosquitoes swarm and mate? The functional biology of mating swarms
Objectives
To study the complex dynamics of mating swarms using an interdisciplinary approach by combining expertise from neuroscience, bio(fluid)mechanics, machine vision, behavioral ecology and medical entomology, from laboratories across three continents (Africa, Europe and N. America)
Malaria mosquitoes are world’s deadliest creatures. Despite our intensive vector-control efforts they still cause >400,000 human deaths each year. However, surprisingly little is known about the mechanisms that underlie their fecundity. Mosquitoes mate in-flight in complex 3D swarms of up to thousands of individuals of multiple sympatric species. It is thought that to avoid hybridization in such swarms, male and female conspecifics perform a mating dance by synchronizing their wingbeats. But interactions between freely-flying mosquitoes within a swarm have never been quantified.
Together, the aim is to collaboratively study swarming behavior in lab, semi-field and field conditions. This study will generate a new understanding of the functional neuro-mechanics of mating swarms, and provide crucial knowledge about the mechanisms that underlie the fecundity of malaria-vectors. Malaria mosquito will be used as our model organism because its fecundity is particularly depending on swarming dynamics, and malaria is the deadliest mosquito-borne disease. Therefore, the project outcomes will directly support the development of malaria-vector control strategies/methods, such as gene-drive, acoustic lures, and monitoring. Swarming is currently an important topic in aerial robotics research; this study will provide novel bio-inspiration for flight control strategies, systems and algorithms of such swarming robots.
For this, two main research methodologies will be developed:
- Dedicated machine-vision-based videography systems for tracking up to 300 mosquitoes flying in a swarm. These systems will be used to study the biomechanics and behavior of multi-species swarms in lab, semi-field and field conditions.
- Novel tethered-flight electrophysiological assays to record the neural responses to approaching conspecifics and allospecifics. By placing this system within a swarm, we will study the neural bases of mate-swarming behavior.
By using these systems with a collaborative, multidisciplinary research approach, the aim is to jointly answer four main research questions: Q1. How do mating-swarms form and keep their integrity? Q2. How do individual swarming mosquitoes recognize potential mates? Q3. How do swarming mosquitoes mate in-flight? Q4. How does mosquito swarm dynamics affect mating success and hybridization?
May 2021 — Apr 2024
