Deaf mosquitoes stop having sex

Scientists believe they have discovered a strange way to fight mosquito-spread diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika. The idea is to make male insects deaf, making it difficult for them to mate and reproduce.

Mosquitoes engage in sexual activity while flying through the air, with males relying on their hearing to follow females based on their attractive buzzing.

The researchers conducted experiments to change the genetic pathway by which male mosquitoes use this hearing. As a result, even after spending three days in the same cage, there was no physical contact with the female.

Female mosquitoes transmit disease to people, so preventing female mosquitoes from producing babies helps reduce their overall population.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine studied the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads the virus to about 400 million people a year.

They carefully observed the insects’ aerial mating habits (which can last anywhere from a few seconds to just under a minute) and used genetics to figure out how to disrupt them.

They targeted a protein called trpVa, which appears to be essential for hearing.

In the mutant mosquitoes, neurons normally involved in detecting sound did not respond to the sounds of flight or buzzing of potential mates.

The mesmerizing noise was deafening.

In contrast, wild (non-mutant) males mated quickly and repeatedly, fertilizing nearly every female in the cage.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, The research results were published in the journal PNASsaid the effect of the gene knockout was “absolute” because mating by deaf males was completely eliminated.

Dr. Jörg Albert of the University of Oldenburg in Germany is an expert on mosquito mating, and I asked him what he thought about the study.

He said attacking the sense of sound is a promising means of controlling mosquitoes, but it needs to be studied and managed.

“This study provides the first direct molecular test and suggests that hearing is indeed not only important for mosquito reproduction, but essential.

“Without the male’s hearing and auditory tracking ability, female mosquitoes may become extinct.”

Another method being considered is releasing sterile males into disease-prone areas where mosquitoes are prevalent, he added.

Mosquitoes can carry diseases, but they are also an important part of the food chain as a source of nutrients for fish, birds, bats, frogs, and others, and some are also important pollinators.