Quantifying Mosquito Host Preference
- 1W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
- 2The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
- ↵3Correspondence: cmcmeni1{at}jhu.edu
Abstract
The most dangerous mosquito species for human health are those that blood feed preferentially and frequently on humans (anthropophilic mosquitoes). These include prolific disease vectors such as the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae and yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. The chemosensory basis for anthropophilic behavior exhibited by these disease vectors, as well as the factors that drive interindividual differences in human attractiveness to mosquitoes, remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we concisely review established methods to quantify mosquito interspecific and intraspecific host preference in the laboratory, as well as semi-field and field environments. Experimental variables for investigator consideration during assays of mosquito host preference across these settings are highlighted.
Footnotes
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From the Mosquitoes collection, edited by Laura B. Duvall and Benjamin J. Matthews.
