A study in the most recent issue of Current Biology reports that mosquitoes communicate their presence to one another through the frequency of vibration of their wings:
In finding a partner of the right species type, male and female mosquitoes depend on their ability to "sing" in perfect harmony. Those tones are produced and varied based on the frequency of their wing beats in flight.
The new results help to explain how those different mosquito forms manage to reproductively isolate themselves and maintain that genetic diversity...
This is of particular interest to me because in the 1950s my father, who had a background in electrical engineering, tried to invent an electronic mosquito repeller. On those frequent Minnesota evenings when we were besieged by mosquitoes at the lake, he thought he detected a diminution in the number of mosquitoes when a dragonfly appeared, and he decided that the mosquitoes might be able to detect the wingbeat frequency of their predator. So he and a Mr. Goshy devised a tabletop device that emitted the frequency of dragonflies. The idea never came to a marketable end, either because they couldn't prove the effect or couldn't get a patent or couldn't come up with funding for development. But I've always wondered...
Very interesting story about your father!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the same thing a few different times, most recently while fishing. Totally besieged by mosquitos then suddenly they're gone when a dragon fly comes by.
ReplyDeleteNow that is truly interesting.
ReplyDeleteI used to live on an island, and in some places in summer, phew! those mozzies! and the elk flies. And dragonflies were my friends.
And yes, I'd noticed how clouds of mozzies hanging ower the road would swirl and disappear, when thedragonflies made an appearance, oh how i loved to see them, but i never thought of the wing-beat thing.