Outdoor Resting and Sugar Feeding Behaviors of African Malaria Vectors

项目描述（由申请人提供）：本项目主要研究西非马里疟媒按蚊的室外休息和摄糖行为。与大多数非洲国家一样，疟疾在马里是一个严重的公共卫生问题。了解蚊子在室外环境中的行为正变得越来越重要，因为人们日益认识到，要成功控制疟疾和在当地消除疟疾，需要除专门在室内使用的媒介控制工具之外的媒介控制工具。目前，对于非洲的主要疟疾病媒物种，冈比亚按蚊，安。arabiensis和An。由于缺乏实地证据，对其户外休息行为的了解有限，糖或花蜜在其生活史中的作用主要是推测。此外，休息和食糖行为可能表现出广泛的表型可塑性，但生态环境作为可能的关键驱动因素的作用尚未得到研究。因此，本项目的目标是调查马里生态多样性地点的按蚊户外休息和食糖行为，以确定这些行为与季节性变化的当地环境之间的复杂关系如何影响疟疾传播。在马里的实地研究将在撒哈拉以南萨赫勒地区3个主要生态气候带的10个研究地点进行。研究地区在病媒种群、季节性恶性疟原虫传播和疟疾流行病学方面已经有了很好的特点。该项目以在马里和以色列进行的广泛初步研究为基础，包括三个具体目标：1)描述疟疾媒介物种如何从不同类型、配置和质量的潜在室外休息微生境和食糖中心中进行选择；2)确定对疟疾病媒室外休息和食糖至关重要的当地环境资源如何影响疟疾病媒的能力和疟原虫传播的空间聚集模式；3)制定和评估室外环境中成年按蚊浓度鉴定的新方法和现场标准。创新方面包括：首先，新的基于实地的方法将用于调查蚊子的两种重要但高度被忽视的行为；其次，这是第一次研究蚊子如何根据当地环境的季节变化调整其户外休息和摄食行为。第三，本项目将解释户外休息和食糖行为如何影响病媒生存和疟原虫传播动态。第四，将对用于确定疟疾媒介浓度的新预测模型进行严格的实地测试

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project focuses on the outdoor resting and sugar-feeding behaviors of Anopheles malaria vector populations in Mali, West Africa, where, as in most African countries, malaria is a serious public health problem. An understanding of mosquito behaviors in the outdoor environment is becoming increasingly important because there is a growing awareness that vector control tools beyond those used exclusively inside houses are needed to achieve successful malaria control and local elimination. Currently, for the major malaria vector species in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, An. arabiensis, and An. funestus, there is only limited knowledge on their outdoor resting behavior, and the role of sugar or nectars in their life history is mostly speculated due to a lack of field-based evidence. Furthermore, resting and sugar feeding behaviors likely exhibit extensive phenotypic plasticity but the role of the ecological environment as the possible key driver has not been investigated. Therefore, the goal of this project is to investigate Anopheles mosquito outdoor resting and sugar- feeding behaviors at ecologically diverse sites in Mali to determine how complex relationships between these behaviors and the seasonally changing local environment affect malaria transmission. Field studies in Mali will be conducted at 10 study sites located in 3 major eco-climatic zones that span the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Study areas are already well characterized with respect to vector populations, seasonal Plasmodium falciparum transmission, and malaria epidemiology. This project, which builds on extensive preliminary studies in Mali and Israel, includes three specific aims: 1) Characterize how malaria vector species select from different types, configurations, and qualities of potential outdoor resting microhabitats and sugar-feeding centers, and behaviorally adapt to seasonal changes in their local environment~ 2) Determine how local environmental resources critical for malaria vector outdoor resting and sugar feeding affect malaria vectorial capacity and spatial aggregation patterns of malaria parasite transmission~ and 3) Develop and evaluate new approaches and field-based criteria to identify concentrations of adult anopheline mosquitoes in the outdoor environment. Innovative aspects include: First, new field-based approaches will be used to investigate two important but highly neglected mosquito behaviors, Second, this is the first study to examine how mosquitoes adapt their outdoor-resting and sugar-feeding behaviors in response to seasonal changes in their local environment. Third, this project will explain how outdoor-resting and sugar-feeding behaviors impact vector survival and malaria parasite transmission dynamics. Fourth, new predictive models for identifying concentrations of malaria vectors will be rigorously field-tested and refined to improve their accuracy and potential utility beyond Mali. By providing a strong scientific basis for development of new approaches and tools for anopheline mosquito vector control in outdoor environments, this project has strong potential for helping Mali and other countries improve malaria control and advance toward the ultimate goal of elimination.