The Mosquito Taste System and Disease Control
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Mosquitoes are a widely diverse group of organisms, comprising ∼3,500 species that live in an enormous range of habitats. Some species are vectors of diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people each year. Although understanding of mosquito olfaction has progressed dramatically in recent years, mosquito taste remains greatly understudied. Since taste is essential to feeding, egg laying, and mating decisions in insects, improved understanding of taste in mosquitoes could provide new mechanistic insight into many aspects of their behavior. We provide a guide to current knowledge in the field, and we suggest a wealth of opportunities for research that are now enabled by recent scientific and technological advances. We also propose means by which taste might be exploited in new strategies for mosquito control, which may be urgently needed as the geographical ranges of vector species increase with climate change.
Olfactory preferences and chemical differences of fruit scents for mosquitoes.
Leon-Norena M, Tauxe G, Riffell J bioRxiv. 2025; .
PMID: 39975343 PMC: 11839119. DOI: 10.1101/2025.02.05.636686.
Mosquito taste responses to human and floral cues guide biting and feeding.
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PMID: 39415007 PMC: 11578787. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08047-y.
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PMID: 39171609 PMC: 11339650. DOI: 10.1002/vms3.1580.
Mosquitoes do not Like Bitter.
Lazzari C, Ortega-Insaurralde I, Esnault J, Costa E, Crespo J, Barrozo R J Chem Ecol. 2024; 50(3-4):143-151.
PMID: 38366062 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-024-01476-z.
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PMID: 37980438 PMC: 10657447. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47277-4.