Mosquitoes — how we smell is why they bite, research shows | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Mosquitoes — how we smell is why they bite, research shows Mosquitoes — how we smell is why they bite, research shows Published: August 21, 2012 Author: William G. Gilroy Despite widespread drought across much of the United States, West Nile virus is on the upswing. A mild winter, followed by a wet spring, allowed mosquito populations to build up early this season. And the subsequent scarce rains and intense heat led to stagnant water pools which are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Culex mosquito Zainulabeuddin Syed, a mosquito biologist with the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, has gone a long way toward explaining the extraordinary ability mosquitoes have to find us and infect us with diseases such as West Nile. In short, it’s because of the way we smell. Zain studies olfaction in mosquitoes and other insects, and he points out that mosquitoes have an extraordinary sense of smell. A big part of their brains are devoted to this sense. Only female mosquitoes feed on blood meals, and they use the blood to produce eggs. And female mosquitoes find their blood meals through the use of smell. For example, Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile and other life-threatening illnesses, are able to detect even minute concentrations of nonanal, a chemical substance given off by humans. They detect nonanal through receptor neurons on their antennae. Birds, which are the main hosts of mosquitoes, also give off nonanal. Birds are the main source of the West Nile virus, and when mosquitoes move on to feast on humans and other species, the mosquitoes transmit the virus to them. An understanding of the olfactory behavior of mosquitoes that leads them to feed on humans can play an important role in developing more effective methods of mosquito and disease control. Zainulabeuddin Syed Syed is also researching the role that plants play in mosquito behavior. He points out that despite our occasional feeling that we’re surrounded by hordes of hungry mosquitoes, they spend a relatively short amount of time feeding. Rather, they spend considerable time on plants, taking the sugars that provide energy for those occasions when they do feed. The Notre Dame researcher’s lab is studying what scents plants that mosquitoes are attracted to give off. Again, a deeper understanding of the role of the chemicals produced by plants and how mosquitoes select plants to obtain their energy sources can lead to better control and elimination strategies. Syed points out that DEET still is an effective mosquito repellant and he was one of a team of researchers who revised the conventional understanding of how it works. The prevailing wisdom among researchers was that DEET was effective because it masked odors that attract mosquitoes. However, research by Syed and his colleagues showed that mosquitoes smell DEET directly and avoid it. For many of us, better mosquito control techniques would result in greater comfort and convenience when we’re outdoors. In many areas of the world, however, mosquito control is a matter of life and death. In Africa alone, malaria, one of the many diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, takes a human life, most frequently a child’s, every 30 seconds. A better understanding of the role smell plays in mosquito behavior can offer important clues that may lead to new control strategies. Contact: Zainulabeuddin Syed, Zainulabeuddin.Syed.5@nd.edu Posted In: Research Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 05, 2022 Astrophysicists find evidence for the presence of the first stars October 04, 2022 NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention September 29, 2022 Notre Dame, Ukrainian Catholic University launch three new research grants September 27, 2022 Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis September 22, 2022 Climate-prepared countries are losing ground, latest ND-GAIN index shows For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn