Host Preferences of Blood-Feeding Mosquitoes
Top Cited Papers
- 7 January 2013
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Entomology
- Vol. 58 (1), 433-453
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153618
Abstract
Mosquitoes use plant sugars and vertebrate blood as nutritional resources. When searching for blood hosts, some mosquitoes express preferential behavior for selected species. Here, we review the available knowledge on host preference, as this is expected to affect the life history and transmission of infectious pathogens. Host preference is affected by myriad extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Inherent factors are determined by genetic selection, which appears to be controlled by adaptive advantages that result from feeding on certain host species. Host preference of mosquitoes, although having a genetic basis, is characterized by high plasticity mediated by the density of host species, which by their abundance form a readily accessible source of blood. Host-selection behavior in mosquitoes is an exception rather than the rule. Those species that express strong and inherent host-selection behavior belong to the most important vectors of infectious diseases, which suggests that this behavioral trait may have evolved in parallel with parasite-host evolution.Keywords
This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Novel Synthetic Odorant Blend for Trapping of Malaria and Other African Mosquito SpeciesJournal of Chemical Ecology, 2012
- Development of a high‐throughput microsphere‐based molecular assay to identify 15 common bloodmeal hosts of Culex mosquitoesMolecular Ecology Resources, 2011
- “Bird biting” mosquitoes and human disease: A review of the role of Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes in epidemiologyInfection, Genetics and Evolution, 2011
- Vector host-feeding preferences drive transmission of multi-host pathogens: West Nile virus as a model systemProceedings. Biological sciences, 2011
- Molecular basis of odor coding in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiaeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- Odorant reception in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiaeNature, 2010
- The influence of sex, handedness, and washing on the diversity of hand surface bacteriaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Odor Coding in the Maxillary Palp of the Malaria Vector Mosquito Anopheles gambiaeCurrent Biology, 2007
- Olfactory responses in a gustatory organ of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiaeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Women's preference for dominant male odour: effects of menstrual cycle and relationship statusBiology Letters, 2005