Mosquito Bite Can Be Trumped by Circadian Rhythm, New Study Reveals

According to a study, a mosquito bite can be delayed by the insect's circadian rhythm. Recent studies have shown that mosquitoes prefer to sleep when they are sleep-deprived rather than seek out their next meal. The results demonstrate the importance of restorative sleep, even for insects.

Oluwaseun Ajayi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati, expressed surprise because he anticipated that mosquitoes would be attracted to a blood meal whether they were sleep-deprived or not. The study's lead author is Ajayi.

According to Ajayi, the need for mosquito management and control alternatives to chemical insecticides made the research necessary.

Although circadian rhythms, which are closely linked to sleep in other systems and regulate the time and frequency of mosquito bites, have been extensively studied in these disease vectors, his team was surprised that sleep is understudied in mosquitoes. This stoked the group's interest in this field of study even more.

Mosquito Circadian Rhythm

Researchers spent more than a year developing techniques to study mosquito sleep patterns. They used image analysis to define mosquito posture and an infrared-based monitoring system to measure the duration and amount of sleep in three different mosquito species.

It was particularly difficult, according to Ajayi, because of something researchers refer to as the "observer effect," which states that simply observing something can affect how it turns out.

Mosquitoes can detect the presence of humans due to their body heat, odors, movement, and the carbon dioxide that humans exhale while breathing and that is emitted from their skin.

So even simply entering the room to observe them can affect how the insects behave.

Ajayi goes on to say that because mosquitoes are typically drawn to their hosts' sensations and stimulation, it will be difficult to accurately measure their sleep. His team had to conduct our experiments in cages and incubators far from people as a result of this. To prevent mosquito interactions with the human host, images for the postural analyses were taken remotely.

To address those issues, scientists conducted the experiment in a quiet lab with the mosquitoes located several rooms away from any potential passersby. To record whenever the mosquitoes moved without running the risk of disturbing them, they installed cameras and infrared sensors in the room.

Sleeping Mosquitoes

The mosquitoes in the lab slept for 16 to 19 hours every day, according to the researchers.

They took a while to figure out when a mosquito was dozing. They can stay still and perch for a very long time when they aren't searching for food to conserve energy. However, scientists have found that mosquitoes lower their hind legs and draw their bodies closer to the surface where they are resting when they appear to be sleeping.

For about a week, the mosquitoes were left unattended to help them adjust to their new surroundings. When they first arrived, researchers observed their sleeping and feeding patterns. Then, to deprive them of sleep, researchers routinely vibrated their enclosures at night or during the day.

When they were awake, more than three-quarters of the mosquitoes that went to sleep would normally hunt for a blood meal. But after a restless night, less than a quarter of them were hungry. Both in the lab and when they observed the mosquitoes in the field, they discovered that the sleepy ones avoided humans more frequently.

Read also: Techniques on Dealing With Wildfires May Help Mosquito Problem 

Sleep-Deprived Mosquitoes

Scientists are aware of the negative effects on human health and the longevity of prolonged sleep loss.

According to Ajayi, sleep deprivation harms insects' biological processes. He goes on to say that honeybees who lost sleep at night were unable to forage effectively the next day due to impaired waggle dance signaling. Fruit flies that did not get enough sleep at night experienced problems with their short- and long-term memory.

A mosquito bite can spread dangerous diseases like West Nile, Zika, dengue, and malaria to people. They can also infect dogs and horses with diseases like West Nile virus, heartworms, and eastern equine encephalitis.

The researchers hope to develop new strategies to stop the spread of infections by comprehending the circadian rhythms of insects, Treehugger reports.

According to Ajayi, a connection between immunity and sleep has been found in fruit flies. Additionally, immunity plays a significant role in mosquito disease transmission. Based on this, the study would explain how sleep affects mosquitoes' ability to transmit disease.

Related article: Study Shows That Mosquito Brains Record Human Odor Through Sweat in Order for Them To Find Humans