Environmental Factors That Regulate Mosquito Physiology and Behavior

Mosquitoes remain the greatest threat to global human health because they transmit pathogens to humans and other animals when females imbibe a blood meal. Disease transmission is restricted temporally and spatially because not all seasons or habitats support mosquito growth, development, host seeking, and reproduction. Temperate mosquitoes respond to photoperiod by entering states of arrested development to survive harsh winter conditions. Additionally, temperature profoundly influences mosquito development, host seeking, and reproductive processes, as well as pathogen replication. Recent research is uncovering how humidity affects mosquito host-seeking and oviposition behavior. Researchers are also gaining an understanding of how light pollution and high temperatures in cities impact mosquito physiology and behavior. Future studies characterizing the interactions among multiple environmental factors will allow researchers to better predict how mosquitoes are responding to increasing urbanization and climate change, to develop novel control measures, and to better direct interventions and thereby limit disease transmission.