Researchers and students at the University of Georgia Tech in Georgia, USA, conducted a unique experiment as part of a study on mosquitoes, published on March 18 in the journal Science Advances. Over three years, they analyzed the flight paths, movements, and decisions made by these insects in the presence of a human, in order to better combat their spread.
In this study, a student experienced a rather unusual moment. He spent several hours locked in a room with around a hundred hungry mosquitoes trying to bite him. The young man initially spent four minutes with the mosquitoes. They all came from Georgia and none were disease vectors. Despite wearing a protective net, he was still bitten numerous times.
Twenty million pieces of data were collected with improved protection, he returned to the room for several hours. During the test, infrared cameras recorded the movements of the insects and collected twenty million pieces of data.
Thanks to this groundbreaking experiment, the researchers were able to demonstrate that mosquitoes, who have very poor vision, analyze their environment primarily through sound, smells, and temperatures, specifically targeting areas where carbon dioxide is emitted.
This information is crucial for improving the fight against this insect. Mosquitoes are in fact the most deadly species to humans in the world, causing between 700,000 and 800,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
