Study: Day and night-biting mosquitoes respond differently to colors of light

According to a new study, researchers have found that both night and day-biting mosquitoes are behaviorally attracted by different colors of light at different times of day. The University of California and Irvine School of Medicine led a team who studied a species of mosquito that bites in day time as well as the night time. The day time mosquitoes are called the Yellow fever mosquitoes and the night time mosquitoes are the Anopheles.

Behavioural study of the mosquitoes

The researchers concluded that both the species respond differently to ultraviolet light and various other colours. They also found out that the light preference is dependent on numerous factors like the time of the day, mosquito’s sex, species and lastly, the colour of the light. This new study is titled as the "Circadian Regulation of Light-Evoked Attraction and Avoidance Behaviors in Daytime- versus Nighttime-Biting Mosquitoes” and is published in Current Biology.

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Todd C. Holmes, who is a principal investigator and also a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the UCI School of Medicine said, "Conventional wisdom has been that insects are non-specifically attracted to ultraviolet light, hence the widespread use of ultraviolet light "bug zappers" for insect control. We find that day-biting mosquitoes are attracted to a wide range of light spectra during the daytime, whereas night-biting mosquitoes are strongly photophobic to short-wavelength light during the daytime". According to the study, mosquitoes are considered to be harmful to humans and other animals.

The new study also elaborates on how the female mosquitoes require blood meals for their fertilized eggs and are also attracted to light during the day regardless of spectra. On the other hand, night-biting mosquitoes are not so fond of the ultraviolet and blue light during the day and therefore they tend to avoid it. 

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There have been previous researches also on the same topic in the Holmes lab. These researches used fruit flies and suggested that the light sensors and circadian molecular mechanisms for light mediate the attraction or avoidance behaviours. Holmes "Light is the primary regulator of circadian rhythms and evokes a wide range of time-of-day specific behaviors". He added,  "By gaining an understanding of how insects respond to short-wavelength light in a species-specific manner, we can develop new, environmentally friendly alternatives to controlling harmful insects more effectively and reduce the need for environmentally damaging toxic pesticides".

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