Does acoustic signalling predict mating success in mosquito lines?

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The control of mosquito transmitted diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and Chikungunya is still largely dependent on mosquito population control. Unfortunately, many of the tools we use to control mosquito populations are currently threatened by the evolution of insecticide resistance. Researchers are developing new strategies to manage mosquito populations. Several new promising strategies involve genetic or reproductive control. In these cases, males will be mass reared in the laboratory and released into nature where they will need to compete with wild males for mates. These males will deliver technologies that will either reduce the mosquito population or the population's ability to transmit disease. Unfortunately, we know very little about mosquito mating behaviour. Specifically, we do not know what makes a male attractive to females. In this project, we propose to investigate newly discovered acoustic signals to determine if we can use male signalling ability to accurately predict how laboratory reared males will perform in competition with wild males. So far we know that the presence of a convergence event it important for female choice, but we do not know which components of the signal she is paying attention to. First, we will measure signal components such as latency, rate, range, and consistency while recording mating interactions between live mosquitoes to determine which are most predictive of male mating success. Males used in releases will need to be reared in the laboratory. Thus, understanding how rearing practices influence male courtship signals is important. However, the role of environment in shaping these signals has not been investigated. We will use artificial playbacks to measure the signalling performance of males that have been subjected to various laboratory conditions. Finally, we will use this new knowledge to determine if harmonic convergence signalling ability is a predictor of how males will perform under field conditions. We will test males with low or high signalling performance against wild males in large field cages. This will allow us to test if acoustic measurement could be used as a high-throughput assay to males in rearing programs. At the conclusion of this project, we will have advanced our understanding of sexual selection in mosquitoes and developed a new tool for control programs.