Vector Behaviour, Ecology, and Transmission

Paper out!
Join VectorBiTE!
Join VectorBiTE! The new website looks pretty sweet.
Vector BiTE!
Excited to start working on this project looking at role of vector behaviour in transmission ecology.
Look for more information as the network gets off the ground this year!
Lab members share knowledge with public at Bugs Day!
Master's students Zacharo Zanti and Stefano Idugboe participated in the Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and Environments (GCEE) Bugs Day! Thank you for talking to visitors about your projects and mosquitoes.

Paper out!
Finally have gotten a paper out further dissecting the role of the mosquito immune response in the "manipulation" phenotype! The article can be found here.
How important is sound for male mosquitoes?
Male mosquitoes have incredible hearing all tuned to the flight tone of the female. This is a regular ipod earbud playing 420 Hz pure tone. Sound is such an important cue for males that this one is trying to mate with the speaker!
In 2009, we learned that females also pay attention to sound and they they might use acoustic cues to decide which males to accept and which males to reject. We are further investigating the role of acoustic in mate choice.
The Colony
We are maintaining the colony using a Hemotek membrane feeder. The females are surprisingly cooperative when they are hungry!

First Imperial Mosquito!
We have started colonies! Mosquitoes are going and now its time for some work! This is the very first mosquito to emerge at Silwood Park. It is a male Ae. aegypti.

Moving in!
The lab looks pretty empty right now. I'm ordering gear and mosquito eggs are on their way! Check Lab Members page for updates on joining the lab at Silwood Park!
