Mosquito Mystery Explained
It has been a question that has long perplexed people: why are some individuals seemingly immune to mosquito bites, while others suffer endless attacks?
Scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have made progress in identifying which of the approximately 300-400 chemical odors produced by the human body attracts or repels insects (insects have very keen sense of smell they use to guide them to their prey).
Using two groups of test subjects, one ‘attractive’ to mosquitoes and one ‘unattractive, the scientists were able to isolate and identify 7-8 distinct chemical odors which repelled mosquitoes. Some of these odors were thought to be related to stress.
Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren’t. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual’s hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren’t motivated by the person’s smell to fly at all.
The group’s latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with “significant repellency.” One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.
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(Illustration: Michael C. Witte)
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Malaria Vaccine Spread Through Mosquitoes Themselves
Medical researchers are developing an innovative way of delivering malaria vaccine:
In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a “vaccine” of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.
Link via Instapundit
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WMD: Weapons of Mosquito Destruction
Astrophysicist Lowell Wood worked on the hydrogen bomb and Ronald Reagan’s "Star Wars" defense system to protect the US from Soviet missiles using lasers.
Now, Wood and colleagues at Intellectual Ventures have a plan to protect mankind from a far worse enemy, the mosquito. Behold, a "mosquito flashlight" that knock out the bug’s eye-like sensor:
On the shelf were five Maglite flashlights, a zoom lens from a 35mm camera, and the laser itself — a little black box with an assortment of small lenses and mirrors. On the floor below sat a Dell personal computer that is the laser’s brain.
A mosquito hovers into view. Suddenly, it bursts into flame. A thin plume of smoke rises as the mosquito falls. At the bottom of the screen, the carcass smolders.
Not only can the laser target a mosquito, it can also tell a male from a female based on wing-beat.
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The Teenager Audio Test
Can you hear the sound in the clip at this site? I can’t, but that’s not surprising. It can generally only be heard by people under the age of 25. Those who can hear it say it’s pretty annoying. Some older folks use it to repel teens, but some young people use it for a ring tone. Link -via Digg
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How Mosquitoes Find Love
How do mosquitoes find love? Turns out, they serenade their mates! Scientists at Cornell University found out by supergluing mosquitoes on to a tiny tether and then suspending them in the air:
The male mosquito’s buzz, or flight tone, is normally about 600 cycles per second, or 600-Hz. The female’s tone is about 400-Hz. In music, he’s roughly a D, and she’s about a G. So the male brings his tone into phase with the female’s to create a near-perfect duet. Together, the two tones create what musicians call an overtone — a third, fainter tone at 1200-Hz. Only then will the mosquitoes mate.
Christopher Joyce of NPR has the story: Link (with video clip)
Previously on Neatorama: 30 Strangest Animal Mating Habits
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Blood from Mosquito Linked to Crime Suspect
A car stolen from Lapua, Finland was examined for evidence that might lead to the identity of the thief. A mosquito found inside was send to the lab and the human blood inside the insect had DNA that matched a man whose DNA was on file!
Finnish police said it was rare for them to use insects to solve crimes, although they are interested in everything found at a crime scene.
“It is not usual to use mosquitoes. In training we were not told to keep an eye on mosquitoes at crime scenes,” Palomaeki said, laughing.
“It is not easy to find a small mosquito in a car, this just shows how thorough the crime scene investigation was,” he added.
The suspect has been questioned and insists that he rode in the car when he was picked up hitchhiking, but did not steal the car. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
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