Community ecology of biting insects: characterisation of biting insect-host interactions in malaria-endemic Ghana

叮咬昆虫的群落生态学：疟疾流行的加纳叮咬昆虫与宿主相互作用的特征

• 批准号: 2090652
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2090652
• 关键词: Community; ecology; biting; insects; characterisation

Blood-sucking flying insects play a pivotal role in the transmission of a wide range of vector-borne diseases, posing a significant threat to human health. Malaria remains one of the deadliest and most prevalent diseases throughout tropical regions, with 216 million cases being reported globally in 2016, leading to 450,000 related deaths, of which 90% occurred within sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, mosquitos of the Anopheles gambiae complex are the predominant vectors of the malaria pathogen Plasmodium. Whilst the ability to transmit malaria varies greatly between the individual species of the complex, the highly anthropophilic An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s), An. coluzzii and An. arabiensis are considered to be the primary malaria vectors within sub-Saharan Africa. Vector control initiatives, including insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying, have been regularly used with varying rates of success. A developing control method aims to remove the primary malaria vectors through a genetically based approach (gene drive). However, before implementation, a responsible and informed understanding of the impact of such removal on other insects, including potential disease vectors and their predators, is required. This project aims to examine biting insect-host interactions within Ghana. Current assessments of mosquito interactions are primarily constrained to examining small numbers of species. This project will examine the interactions of a wider range of mosquito and other biting insect species to generate a community-wide interaction network. Further, the impact of predation, interspecific competition and apparent competition at the larval stage on the dynamics of co-occurring mosquito species will be assessed.

吸血飞虫在多种病媒传播疾病中发挥着关键作用，对人类健康构成重大威胁。疟疾仍然是整个热带地区最致命和最流行的疾病之一，2016年全球报告了2.16亿例病例，导致45万人死亡，其中90%发生在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。在这一地区，冈比亚按蚊复合体的蚊子是疟疾病原体疟原虫的主要媒介。虽然传播疟疾的能力在复合体的各个物种之间差异很大，但高度嗜热的An。gambiae sensu stricto（s.s）、冈比亚按蚊An. coluzzii和安氏隐翅虫An.在撒哈拉以南非洲，阿拉伯按蚊被认为是主要的疟疾病媒。病媒控制举措，包括经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐和室内滞留喷洒，已得到经常使用，成功率各不相同。一种正在发展的控制方法旨在通过基于基因的方法（基因驱动）消除主要疟疾病媒。然而，在实施之前，需要负责任和知情地了解这种清除对其他昆虫的影响，包括潜在的疾病媒介及其捕食者。该项目旨在研究加纳境内的叮咬昆虫-宿主相互作用。目前对蚊子相互作用的评估主要限于检查少数物种。该项目将研究更广泛的蚊子和其他叮咬昆虫物种的相互作用，以建立一个社区范围的相互作用网络。此外，捕食，种间竞争和明显的竞争，在幼虫阶段的动态共存的蚊子物种的影响将进行评估。