New landmarks for mosquitoes to find victims, respond to insecticides, and ways to combat malaria have been established.
Mosquitoes prefer certain colors. Scientists came to this conclusion after observing the behavior of female mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti species, which spread the Zika virus and yellow fever, TASS reports. It was initially believed that mosquitoes identify victims by the excess carbon dioxide in the air, body heat, vapors and lactic acid molecules present in the sweat of humans and animals, in order to select a landing point. During observations, experts discovered that there is a fourth landmark – the color red, in which not only clothing, but also the skin of any person is painted. Scientists suggest that this fact will help fight insects.
In addition, mosquitoes have demonstrated the ability to learn. Experiments have shown that females of the species Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus that survive contact with insecticides subsequently avoid their smell. This mechanism significantly reduces the effectiveness of chemical means of combating these insects.
The most effective way to avoid mosquito bites is a mosquito net impregnated with insecticides. For example, sleeping with these mosquito nets reduces the 20-year risk of death from malaria in African children by 43 percent. So far, scientists have not made much progress in developing an anti-malaria vaccine. The only drug approved in Europe, the RTS,S protein vaccine, has an effectiveness of 30-50 percent depending on the age group.
