A mosquito‘s whiny buzz may be one of the most annoying noises to human ears, but for some mosquitoes it’s an intricate love song. A new study of the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which carries the infectious diseases dengue fever and yellow fever, has shown that when males and females mate they adjust the speed of their beating wings until their two buzzes combine to produce a harmonious tone. And this isn’t just gee-whiz science: Researchers say the finding could help in the fight against the disease-carrying insects.
The male mosquito’s buzz, or flight tone, is normally about 600 cycles per second, or 600-Hz. The female’s tone is about 400-Hz. In music, he’s roughly a D, and she’s about a G. So the male brings his tone into phase with the female’s to create a near-perfect duet. Together, the two tones create what musicians call an overtone — a third, fainter tone at 1200-Hz. Only then will the mosquitoes mate [NPR]. Researchers were surprised that the mosquitoes could detect the overtone, because they previously believed that A. aegypi males couldn’t hear frequencies above 800-Hz, and the females were thought to be completely deaf.
In the study, published in Science [subscription required], researchers note that some recent attempts to reduce A. aegypi populations have focused on genetically engineering male mosquitoes to make them sterile, and then releasing those males into the wild to mate, fruitlessly, with females. The new knowledge of what a female A. aegypi looks for in a mate could allow researchers to test the males before they’re released to see if they can produce a properly harmonic buzz. Says study coauthor Ronald Hoy: “We don’t want to be releasing duds out there, we want to release sterile studs” [AP].
Coauthor Laura Harrington says researchers could eventually take it a step further: She hopes in future to breed transgenic males that are “better singers”. These mellifluous males would be nigh-on-irresistible to females, who would mate with them “even though it’s not in their best interests”. The partnership would yield offspring which are either inviable, or unable to transmit dengue virus. “If we can interrupt mating and reproduction, we have a very strong tool for mosquito control,” says Professor Harrington [BBC News]. Dengue fever and yellow fever are growing problems, as global warming is shifting climate patterns and spreading the range of the A. aegypi mosquitoes.
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Image: CDC / James Gathany
January 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I’m far more interested in knowing if another tone can be produced to interrupt the 1200Hz overtone to create a situation where the mosquitos won’t mate. Maybe there is something to those plug-in tone generating bug gadgets after all!!!
But seriously, if it were possible to interrupt breeding in this manner, then maybe it is a solution. Assuming the selected tone is high enough in frequency to not annoy humans or other animals.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
@ Darron: There’s been a bit of speculation on that idea. Ronald Hoy told the AP that the 1200-Hz tone is unpleasant to humans, and that it sounds like “the worst ever case of ringing in the ears.”
But the BBC says that researchers may investigate ways to use “acoustic interference,” which they say would involve “playing audio frequencies which confuse the mosquitoes, or discourage them from mating.”
January 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Perhaps playing a bunch of frequencies right near 1200hz (i.e. a bunch of noise, not a single tone) would confuse them into thinking they weren’t “doin it rite,” as the lolcats would say.
On another note, this is interesting because it seems the only way can coexist with nature at our standards (and us, being a product of nature, are natural, and so are our creations) is to domesticate it. To deal with these mosquitos, we’re basically making ourselves a mosquito army to run a deceit play on the way nature is currently doin it. Basic psy-ops. :) If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
@ Eliza: That sounds promising, as long as by “acoustic interference,” researchers don’t mean “Nikelback.” Or “Creed.”
January 9th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Thanks for the information. I have studied the sounds of horned owls and they too, sing a mating song. Like the mosquitoes, the female has the lower note. When the owls get together they hoot a “third”, whereas, according to this article, the mosquitoes buzz a “fifth”. I wonder what the interval is for other types of mosquitoes?
January 12th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Would there be any negatives if mosquitos were completely wiped out?
January 15th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Maggie–There’s probably no relliable way to predict “unintended consequences”. Too many variables. A lot of people were against eliminating smalllpox entirely,and actually, I believe the jury is still out on that one.
January 18th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I am wondering if we are thinking sound and the mosquitos are ‘thinking’ turbulence… if so, our great minds and our work won’t be worth a mosquito bite.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Well there’s actually probably NO negative effects if mosquitoes WERE wiped off the face of the earth but hey i say good riddance 2 em’ kill em all!!
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
How can u tell the difference between a female and a male mosquito?
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:03 pm
PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MOSQUITOES AT ALL
ppls when u see a trail of ants wipe some saliva through a part of the trail as ants follow each other by the smell of their “Neighbours” Butt,
The ants usually freak out when u do this so try boxing them in.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
So basically the feamles and males “Buzz In Harmony” in order to mate?
Well then i’m sure that if they were wiped off the face of the earth it’d be a good thing y’know i mean like they are so annoying with their buzzing.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Wait a minute if mosquitoes need sugar to fly…Store all the sugar away temporarily so all mosquitoes end up on the ground which would then allow us to CAREFULLY place them in a Space Shuttle thingymajiggy and send em’ off to a planet with a portion of sugar so they can fly and then that would be the end of our troubles…So no more mosquitoes biting us and spreading malaria and stuff…Also give the mossies a little parting gift (Animals we dont want on the earth!)
March 4th, 2009 at 10:31 am
oh my god
March 27th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Joel: You fail.
&
LOL @ Jim croff
August 5th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Back on subject: So mosquitos mate in-flight, or near flight (the wings are beating, right) Any other insects that do that?
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August 6th, 2011 at 5:18 am
Most female mosquitoes are sucked the blood of animals and humans, because they can lay their eggs only by hemoglobin, while the male mosquito is taking dew, plant sap, nectar to survive.
There are exceptions, is that we usually fly into the bushes or the occasional rhubarb house mosquito, called the study a large mosquito, they are not blood-sucking female and male, are relying on dew nectar to survive, so we no longer see them without fear, them out of the house can be.