It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. A pest which can carry serious, and even fatal disease has its own infrared system, like infrared heat seeking missiles, to help guide it towards humans.
In a new research paper, some UC Santa Barbara researchers say they’ve discovered that nature has given mosquitos their own infrared system.
"We have body heat, or course. Our surface heat in centigrade is 34 degrees, so that puts out infrared radiation," said UCSB Researcher Craig Montell.
"If you had an infrared camera, you can see a person, or animal. The way that the mosquito picks it up is that the heat from our body, which is converted into electromagnetic waves, causes local heating at neurons at the end of the antennae. So you have heat, converted into electromagnetic waves, which is then converted back into heat. It's sort of like the way the sun heats the earth," said Montell.
His lab has been studying how mosquitoes live, and what can be done to control them. Male mosquitos are harmless, but female mosquitoes use a combination of senses to find the blood they need to for development of their eggs.
"Any one sense isn't enough. So, CO2 from our breath is really important, but that's not enough for them to host seek. It makes them pay attention to other senses like visual cues, or the odors from our bodies," said Montell. "Then, what we discovered was another cue, that they are sensitive to in combination with others is infrared."
Montell said other researchers looked at, but rejected the possibility mosquitoes used infrared detection. He says their mistake was understandable, because they were looking at the premise that it was a standalone sense, and not part of a blended detection system
He said understanding how mosquitoes operate is key to coming up with better ways to repel, or kill them. He says adding infrared heat to mosquito traps could make them even more effective.
The World Health Organization reports bacteria, viruses, and parasites carried by mosquitoes caused 700,000 deaths last year. And, in the eastern United States, outbreaks of Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus have caused some serious illnesses.
The UCSB researchers are hoping to use what they learn in efforts to better combat the insects. The results of the study were just published in the scientific journal Nature.
