Structure and Dynamics of Male Swarms of Anopheles gambiae

Mosquito swarms are poorly understood mating aggregations. In the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae Giles, they are known to depend on environmental conditions, such as the presence of a marker on the ground, and they may be highly relevant to reproductive isolation. We present quantitative measureme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical entomology 2009-03, Vol.46 (2), p.227-235
Main Authors: Manoukis, Nicholas C., Diabate, Abdoulaye, Abdoulaye, Adamou, Diallo, Moussa, Dao, Adama, Yaro, Alpha S., Ribeiro, José M.C., Lehmann, Tovi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aggregation behavior
Analysis
Animals
Anopheles
Anopheles - genetics
Anopheles gambiae
BEHAVIOR, CHEMICAL ECOLOGY
Biological and medical sciences
Cues
Environment
environmental factors
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Malaria
Male
males
mate recognition
mating aggregations
mating behavior
Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control
mosquito swarms
Population Density
Population Dynamics
reproductive isolation
Sexual Behavior, Animal
spatial distribution
stereoscopic image analysis
swarm
swarm markers
swarming
swarms
temporal variation
three-dimensional localization
Time Factors
Vectors. Intermediate hosts
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Summary:Mosquito swarms are poorly understood mating aggregations. In the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae Giles, they are known to depend on environmental conditions, such as the presence of a marker on the ground, and they may be highly relevant to reproductive isolation. We present quantitative measurements of in dividual An. gambiae positions within swarms from Donéguébougou, Mali, estimated by stereoscopic video image analysis. Results indicate that swarms in this species are approximately spherical, with an unexpectedly high density of individuals close to the swarm centroid. This high density may be the result of individual males maximizing their probability of encountering afemale or aproduct of mosquito orientation through cues within the swarm. Our analysis also suggests a difference in swarm organization between putative incipient species of An. gambiae with increasing numbers of males. This may be related to a difference in marker use between these groups, supporting the hypothesis that swarming behavior is a mechanism of mate recognition and ultimately reproductive isolation.
ISSN:0022-2585
1938-2928
DOI:10.1603/033.046.0207