HOW INFRARED RADIATION HELPS MOSQUITOES FIND YOU
HOW INFRARED RADIATION HELPS MOSQUITOES FIND YOU The recently discovered cue is one of many insects integrated across various distances. While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, it can be scary in many parts of the world. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti , spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other diseases yearly. Another, Anopheles gambiae , spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal. Male mosquitoes are harmless, but females need blood for egg development. Unsurprisingly, there are over 100 years of rigorous research on how they find their hosts. Over that time, scientists have discovered a single cue that these insects rely on. Instead, they integrate information from many different senses across various dis