Mosquito transmitted pathogens have an enormous impact of human health. A substantial amount of funding and resources are being spent to control the transmission of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. In many ways this investment is paying off. Innovative and exciting new strategies and technologies have been developed to help combat these plagues. Improving our knowledge of mosquito behaviour and ecology will help us effectively control disease. Our research aims to improve understanding of mosquito behaviour and how behaviour mediates intra- and interspecific interactions in the dynamic world that they live in.
What makes a "sexy" male mosquito?
How does environment shape behaviour, life history, and transmission?
Mosquitoes are tiny, ecothermic, animals and this means that their life history and behavioural traits are extremely sensitive to the environment. Changes to these traits can drive transmission dynamics both directly by altering mosquito feeding patterns and susceptibility and also by altering mosquito abundance. For example, we are investing how changes micro-climatic conditions in Malaysian Borneo will impact transmission risk, how nutritional gradients can alter the effect of temperature on fitness, and how the presence of larval predators alters adult traits like body size.
Do infected mosquitoes behave differently? Does it matter?
