Synthetic rice odour blend lures gravid malaria mosquitoes
The increased use of irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa has benefited the Anopheles arabiensis mosquito – an important malaria vector – particularly in rice paddies. A research team led from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences now shows that rice odours attract females, and elicit egg laying. The team has also produced a synthetic odour blend that triggers the same behaviour. Their findings may be an important step in the development of novel and cost-effective control measures.
The results were published on November 30th in the journal Scientific Reports.