Chemosensory navigation in disease vector mosquito larvae

Abstract

Mosquitoes spread deadly diseases that kill millions of people every year. Understanding mosquito physiology and behavior at all life stages is vital for public health and disease prevention. In these series of chapters for my dissertation, I investigated the exploration behavior and chemosensory navigation of six species of disease vector mosquito larvae. I found striking differences in exploration behavior among all six disease vector species, suggesting that mosquito larvae may experience strong selection on navigation behavior correlated with environmental or evolutionary history. To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism of larval navigation in one species, I further explored important characteristics of navigation behavior in Aedes aegypti larvae, and how they responded to chemical stimuli. Using experimental methods and computational simulations, we demonstrate that Aedes aegypti larvae use an unusual search strategy to navigate chemical gradients, and respond to starvation by optimizing exploration behavior. Taken together, our findings establish mosquito larvae as a promising model for understanding phylogenetic differences in chemosensory behavior and navigation.