A team of researchers from Wageningen University came up with an amusing answer to these questions. The hypothesis was that mosquitoes might depend on air movements for escape, especially when there is darkness around. Their observations have been recently published in the Current Biology journal.
Now Let me invite your attention from the cozy bedroom to a magic show in which mosquitoes are the magicians, and the swat escape is their magic act. The researchers set up a stage for the magician to perform and then closely monitored to unravel the trick behind the act.
The Stage
The researchers planned two sets of experiments. The first aimed to determine the influence of air movements on the escape probability of the mosquitoes from the looming object. The flight maneuvers of the escaping mosquitoes were studied in the second experiment.
The researchers conducted two sets of experiments with dedicated setups and procedures. The first experiment aimed to determine whether air movements influence the escape probability of malarial mosquitoes from looming objects while the second investigated the flight maneuvers of mosquitoes escaping from such objects. They arranged a customized flight arena with LED panels and a mechanical swatter with a disc. The swatter disc’s size was similar to a human hand, which replicated the looming object. Additionally, they integrated high-speed cameras to capture videos of flying mosquitoes.
The magician and the script
The scientists released some female malaria mosquitoes into a closed area and allowed them to fly freely. Inside the cage, they autocontrolled the light conditions and the triggering of the swatter based on the real-time position and velocity of the mosquitoes. The scientists calculated the forces exerted on the mosquito by the surrounding air during the escape.
The Trick
Finally, it’s time to reveal the trick. Mosquitoes evade swats by executing both active and passive movements. In active movements, they steer away from the approaching object, executing turns by adjusting the amount of their wing strokes and the frequency of their wing speed. During the passive phase, the escaping mosquito aligns its flight speed with the airflow produced by the swatter in a manner that the attacker-induced bow wave itself pushes it away from the danger.
Implications and future directions
Cribellier et al. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.066) noted that the evasive maneuvers of mosquitoes escaping from odor-baited traps are independent of airflow, unlike the mechanism employed to escape from looming objects. The reason for this disparity remains unknown, and elucidating it will offer valuable insights into enhancing trapping systems, thereby aiding in the control of malarial mosquitoes.
So, next time when you whack a mosquito, remember that it is drifting away and escaping by taking a free ride you are offering unknowingly!
Reference
Cribellier, A., Camilo, L. H., Goyal, P., & Muijres, F. T. (2024). Mosquitoes escape looming threats by actively flying with the bow wave induced by the attacker. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.066.
Arya K
About the author: I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, and my Master’s degree is in Applied Microbiology. I am passionate about communicating science to a broader audience and believe that science tastes better when skillfully blended with the sweetness of art and the spices of storytelling.
