EVALUATION OF MOSQUITO FLIGHT BEHAVIOR IN A WIND TUNNEL

蚊子寻找宿主的行为还没有被很好地理解。所使用的线索 蚊子寻找寄主和寻找飞行行为所涉及的行为 这些线索仍然模糊不清。许多人类病原体携带的事实 并通过蚊子传播使人们了解它们的基本生物学 至关重要，尤其是现在经典的控制方法似乎 在全球范围内都在失败。这里提出的研究将试图揭示一些 与寻找蚊子寄主有关的基本机制 和一般的飞行行为。结果将有助于改善我们的 了解疾病传播和我们控制疾病的能力 蚊子。 蚊子飞行行为的种间比较和评估是 建议。白纹伊蚊的寄主寻找、扩散和觅血行为 几种重要的媒介和害虫蚊子物种将通过 已建成的大型(11 X 2.4 X 2.4米)室外风洞 测试过。这一独特的自动化隧道被设计为一种嗅觉仪 在蚊子释放点的上风方向有一对精选的房间。 单个、多个或竞争刺激(即，视觉，听觉， 嗅觉)可以(同时)呈现，并且它们对 的蚊子定向和寻找宿主飞行行为评价 蚊子对每种蚊子的比较反应。我们计划比较一下 白天活动与黄昏/夜间活动的蚊子的行为， 同种寄生蚊子、F1和野生蚊子的飞行行为 以及被标记的(即，使用荧光粉)和 没有标记的蚊子。我们还将对主持人现象进行调查 偏好，并试图确定 在野外观察了几种蚊子的取食模式。 最后，利用这个风洞系统，我们将能够评估 现场观察蚊子在更受控制的环境中的行为。为 例如，我们将尝试确定最近发生的 观察到猪油罐头与可接近的宿主一起诱捕，在其上诱捕 蚊子可以吸血，捕获的蚊子数量是蚊子的10倍 作为难以接近的宿主的陷阱，蚊子无法在其上接触 或者进食。

Mosquito host-seeking behavior is not well understood. The cues used by mosquitoes to locate hosts and the flight behaviors involved in finding those cues remain obscure. The fact that many human pathogens are carried and transmitted by mosquitoes makes understanding their basic biology essential, especially now that the classical control methods seem to be failing worldwide. The studies proposed here will attempt to uncover some of the basic underlying mechanisms associated with mosquito host-seeking and general flight behavior. Results will help to improve our understanding of disease transmission and our capacity to control mosquitoes. An interspecific comparison and evaluation of mosquito flight behavior is proposed. The host-seeking, dispersal, and blood-feeding behaviors of several important vector and pest mosquito species will be evaluated with a large (11 X 2.4 X 2.4 meters) outdoor wind tunnel which has been build and tested. This unique, automated tunnel is designed as an olfactometer with a pair of choice chambers upwind of the mosquito release point. Individual, multiple or competing stimuli (i.e., visual, auditory, olfactory) can be presented (simultaneously) and their importance to mosquito orientation and host-seeking flight behavior evaluated based on the comparative response of mosquitoes to each. We plan to compare the behaviors of day-active vs. crepuscular/nocturnally-active mosquitoes, the flight behavior of colonized, F1, and wild mosquitoes of the same species and the flight behavior of marked (i.e., with fluorescent powder) and unmarked mosquitoes. We also will investigate the phenomenon of host preference and attempt to determine the behavioral basis behind the observed feeding patterns of several mosquito species in the field. Finally, with this wind tunnel system we will be able to evaluate field-observed mosquito behaviors in a more controlled setting. For example, we will attempt to determine the reasons behind our recent observation that lard-can traps with accessible hosts, upon which trapped mosquitoes can blood-feed, capture up to 10 times the number of mosquitoes as traps with inaccessible hosts, on which mosquitoes cannot make contact or feed.