Assessing the impact of light polarization on the visual ecology and manipulation of Anopheles gambiae swarms

Mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus are the primary vectors of Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite

causing malaria. Several Anopheles species have been found to mate in large complex swarms.

However, despite light stimuli being a fundamental cue for regulating physiological and behavioural

responses in mosquitoes, the effects of light polarization on the aggregatory and mating behaviour of

Anopheles remain a mystery. An important link can be made between swarming and light stimuli, as

swarming behaviour has been observed to occur over mating stations typically during sunset, as the

sunlight decreases over time as night time approaches. And although the mechanisms that allow

mosquitoes to approach these markers may rely primarily on visual stimuli, little is known about the

physiological mechanisms allowing a mosquito to approach it. Moreover, no data is available on what

the impact of light polarization is on swarm formation, nor whether it can have an effect on swarm

modulation. The proposed project aims at characterizing e-vector preference index with a virtual

arena to test the effects over swarm formation, maintenance and modulation using 3D tracking. Our

project aims at using both an ultra-controlled laboratory approach (BE, USA) and semi-field

experiments (TZ) with the purpose of generating baseline parameters to serve as novel input data to

accelerate malaria control and elimination efforts in Africa.