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

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45万例相关死亡，其中90%发生在撒哈拉以南非洲。在该地区，冈比亚按蚊复合体是疟疾病原体疟原虫的主要传播媒介。虽然传播疟疾的能力在复杂的个体物种之间差异很大，但高度亲人类的An。冈比亚严格意义（s.s），安。coluzzi和An。arabiensis被认为是撒哈拉以南非洲地区的主要疟疾媒介。病媒控制行动，包括经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐和室内滞留喷洒，已经常使用，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）消除主要疟疾媒介。但是，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，包括对潜在病媒及其捕食者的影响。该项目旨在研究加纳境内叮咬昆虫与宿主的相互作用。目前对蚊子相互作用的评估主要局限于检查少数物种。这个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。进一步研究了捕食、种间竞争和幼虫期明显竞争对共生蚊种动态的影响。

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.