Science Focus
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Although it often doesn't seem like it on a warm summer night, insects that feed on human blood are a rarity. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects; only about 100 of them specialize on humans. But rare doesn't mean unimportant. A single species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti, can spread yellow and dengue fevers, making it a major player in public health.
Aedes aegypti is also unusual in that, while it specializes in humans, we've found a population of what researchers have termed "forest" mosquitos that prefer to go after other animals. Now, researchers have used the forest mosquitos to help us understand how their peers have ended up specialized in feeding on humans. The answer, in part, is that the mosquitos have evolved a receptor that makes us smell good.
The key for this new paper was a forest mosquito population in Kenya, last observed in the 1970s. The research involved in the new work returned to the site in 2009, and the team found that mosquitos with two different color patterns still existed in the region. Returning to the lab with them, they found that the forest mosquitos tended to prefer the scent of guinea pigs, while mosquitos isolated in or near houses preferred human smells.
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