Mosquitoes

Obama Swats Fly During CNBC Interview

Armen Hareyan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:13:27 -0500

The president of the United States showed yet another talent as Obama swats fly during an interview with CNBC's John Harwood.

Mosquitoes create harmonic love song before mating

harminka — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:56:39 -0600

That pesky buzz of a nearby mosquito is the sound of love, scientists have known for some time. But a new Cornell study reports that males and females flap their wings and change their tune to create a harmonic duet just before mating.

Smaller mosquitoes are likey to be infected with viruses

harminka — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:53:47 -0600

An entomologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a division of the new UI Institute for Natural Resource Sustainability, says smaller mosquitoes are more likely to be infected with viruses that cause diseases in humans.

Mosquito traps that reek like latrines may be no more

harminka — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:25:36 -0500

A University of California, Davis research team led by chemical ecologist Walter Leal has discovered a low-cost, easy-to-prepare attractant that lures blood-fed mosquitoes without making humans hold their noses.

Lay your eggs here

harminka — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:17:31 -0500

North Carolina State University scientists have figured out one reason why pregnant yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti), one of the most important disease transmitters worldwide, choose to lay their eggs in certain outdoor water containers while eschewing others.

First Cases of West Nile Reported in San Bernardino Area

Armen Hareyan — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:35:44 -0500

Steven Cuevas: West Valley Vector Control, which covers hundreds of square miles in western San Bernardino County, found the dead birds in Ontario earlier this month. Both tested positive for the virus.

Pathway lets mosquitoes fatten up, slow down for winter

harminka — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:23:18 -0500

Two genes that help insulin regulate mosquitoes’ growth have been identified as key contributors to how the insects enter a dormant state to survive winter’s cold.

DEET helps scientists find strong protection against mosquitoes

seher — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:10:27 -0500

The bug repellent DEET works by making mosquitoes and their brethren unable to smell the sweet aroma of human sweat that alerts them that a meal of blood is nearby, scientists said on Thursday. This knowledge may help guide the creation of new repellents based on the same principle but without possible health worries, they said.

Researchers put the bite on mosquitoes

harminka — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:28:16 -0600

Few things sting like a mosquito's bite--especially if that bite carries a disease such as malaria, yellow fever, Dengue fever or West Nile virus. But if researchers from The University of Arizona in Tucson have their way, one day mosquito bites may prove deadly to the mosquitoes as well.

Sugar identified as key to malaria parasite invasion

harminka — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:10:13 -0500

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI) have identified a sugar in mosquitoes that allows the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to attach itself to the mosquito’s gut. Invasion of the midgut cell layer is an essential stage in the parasite’s lifecycle and in the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans.

Fighting malaria by tricking mosquito's sense of smell

harminka — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:07:03 -0500

By mapping a specialized sensory organ that the malaria mosquito uses to zero in on its human prey, an international team of researchers has taken an important step toward developing new and improved repellants and attractants that can be used to reduce the threat of malaria, generally considered the most prevalent life-threatening disease in the world.

How to stop malaria at its source

harminka — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:03:46 -0500

As summer temperatures cool in the United States, fewer mosquitoes whir around our tiki torches. But mosquitoes swarming around nearly 40 percent of the world’s population will continue to spread a deadly parasitic disease — malaria. Now an interdisciplinary team led by researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has found a key link that causes malarial infection in both humans and mosquitoes.