Male mosquitoes listen for approaching females using built-in amplifier
Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Play it loud. Male mosquitoes use a built in amplifier to hear the wingbeat of approaching females, according to new research. The findings, detailed Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, could help scientists design acoustic traps for disease-carrying mosquitoes. "Hearing is a crucial sense for mosquitoes as acoustic communication plays a key role in their mating behavior," Joerg Albert, researcher at the University College London, said in a news release. "Understanding how mosquitoes communicate in swarms to find mates is important in the development of vector control strategies." During previous observations, scientists noticed the antennae of male mosquitoes appeared to vibrate at the same frequency as the wingbeats of females. To find out why, scientists st...