A novel video-tracking system to quantify the behaviour of nocturnal mosquitoes attacking human hosts in the field

Angarita-Jaimes, N. C., Parker, Josephine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5780-6297, Abe, Mayumi, Mashauri, F., Martine, J., Towers, C. E., McCall, Philip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0007-3985 and Towers, D. P. (2016) 'A novel video-tracking system to quantify the behaviour of nocturnal mosquitoes attacking human hosts in the field'. Journal of The Royal Society, Interface, Vol 13, Issue 117, p. 20150974.

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Abstract

Many vectors of malaria and other infections spend most of their adult life within human homes, the environment where they bloodfeed and rest, and where control has been most successful. Yet, knowledge of peri-domestic mosquito behaviour is limited, particularly how mosquitoes find and attack human hosts or how insecticides impact on behaviour. This is partly because technology for tracking mosquitoes in their natural habitats, traditional dwellings in disease-endemic countries, has never been available. We describe a sensing device that enables observation and recording of nocturnal mosquitoes attacking humans with or without a bed net, in the laboratory and in rural Africa. The device addresses requirements for sub-millimetre resolution over a 2.0 × 1.2 × 2.0 m volume while using minimum irradiance. Data processing strategies to extract individual mosquito trajectories and algorithms to describe behaviour during host/net interactions are introduced. Results from UK laboratory and Tanzanian field tests showed that Culex quinquefasciatus activity was higher and focused on the bed net roof when a human host was present, in colonized and wild populations. Both C. quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae exhibited similar behavioural modes, with average flight velocities varying by less than 10%. The system offers considerable potential for investigations in vector biology and many other fields.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 510 Mosquitoes QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 650 Insect vectors WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0974
Depositing User:	Jessica Jones
Date Deposited:	18 Apr 2016 09:55
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:12
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/5845

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