Coordinated mosquito biting dynamics at the human skin interface
4 affiliations
- 1The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- 2Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- 3Robarts Research Institute, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
- 4HHMI Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, USA.
Abstract
The bite of a female mosquito is the critical point of pathogen transmission, yet the fine-scale biting dynamics on human skin remain unknown. Here, we combine high-speed videography, deep-learning-based tracking, and electrophysiology to analyze biting dynamics of the malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii in real time at the human skin interface. We uncover a previously uncharacterized synchronization of mouthpart and leg movements during probing and identify five distinct below skin sub-behaviors: piercing, vessel searching, blood ingestion, retraction, and withdrawal. We show that disruption of the orco and IR76b chemosensory genes can alter some components of normal biting but these effects are subtle, suggesting possible plasticity in direct-contact chemosensation and mosquito bite execution. Comparative analyses show genus-specific biting strategies between An. coluzzii and Aedes aegypti linked to distinct ways they find blood vessels. Our findings indicate that female mosquitoes exhibit a complex synchronization of body parts at the bite site via motor and chemosensory processes.
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BibTeX
@article{konopka2026coordinated,
title = {{Coordinated mosquito biting dynamics at the human skin interface}},
author = {Joanna K. Konopka and Danny Poinapen and Shivam S. Chitnis and Carmen M. Morrow and Gwyneth M. Card and Christopher J. Potter},
journal = {Science Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aec2023},
url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec2023},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Coordinated mosquito biting dynamics at the human skin interface
AU - Joanna K. Konopka
AU - Danny Poinapen
AU - Shivam S. Chitnis
AU - Carmen M. Morrow
AU - Gwyneth M. Card
AU - Christopher J. Potter
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Science Advances
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aec2023
UR - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec2023
AB - The bite of a female mosquito is the critical point of pathogen transmission, yet the fine-scale biting dynamics on human skin remain unknown. Here, we combine high-speed videography, deep-learning-based tracking, and electrophysiology to analyze biting dynamics of the malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii in real time at the human skin interface. We uncover a previously uncharacterized synchronization of mouthpart and leg movements during probing and identify five distinct below skin sub-behaviors: piercing, vessel searching, blood ingestion, retraction, and withdrawal. We show that disruption of the orco and IR76b chemosensory genes can alter some components of normal biting but these effects are subtle, suggesting possible plasticity in direct-contact chemosensation and mosquito bite execution. Comparative analyses show genus-specific biting strategies between An. coluzzii and Aedes aegypti linked to distinct ways they find blood vessels. Our findings indicate that female mosquitoes exhibit a complex synchronization of body parts at the bite site via motor and chemosensory processes.
SN - 2375-2548
ER -