The Circadian Rhythm of Flight Activity of The Mosquito Anopheles Gambiae: the Light-Response Rhythm

Abstract

1. In sugar-fed A. gambiae females, light may affect flight activity directly or by changing the phase of the circadian rhythm; both responses depend on the phase of the rhythm. 2. The phase-response curve (1 h, 70 lux, signals given in the first cycle in DD following LD 12:12) shows a sharp swing, at about 3 h after normal light-off, from a maximum phase-delay to a maximum phase-advance, each of about 2 h. When signals are given at this time, phase re-setting is very variable; cyclical activity continues but the individuals are out of phase. 3. Phase shifting appears to be a function of the energy of the signal. A 5 min, 70 lux signal has no apparent effect. The effect of a 1 h signal increases with intensity, up to at least 500 lux, but does not appear to be significant below 10 lux. 4. Light normally inhibits flight activity, but there is a burst of activity at light-on (light-on response) if it occurs during the active half of the cycle following the initial activity peak. A vigorous light-on response occurs even at the lowest intensity used (0.3 lux).

Intra-species quantification reveals differences in activity and sleep levels in the yellow fever mosquito,Aedes aegypti

“…Like other insects, mosquitoes inhabit environments that experience daily oscillations in environmental factors such as light and temperature across a typical 24-hour period (Rund et al, 2016; Brody, 2020). In response to the daily cycling of environmental light, mosquitoes have evolved to display time-dependent rhythms of a large proportion of their biology, including sugar feeding (Yee and Foster, 1992), olfaction (Rund et al, 2013), oviposition (Fritz et al, 2008; Chadee, 2010), mating (Benelli, 2015), metabolism (Gray and Bradley, 2003), immunity (Murdock et al, 2013), and activity patterns (Jones et al, 1972; Peterson, 1980; Kawada and Takagi, 2004). Apart from the tight connection between feeding behavior and locomotor activity, feeding in mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects is rhythmic and can be used to predict when infectious bites will occur (Schlein and Warburg 1986, Yee and Foster 1992, Lorenzo and Lazzari 1998, Fritz et al 2014).…”