Acoustic communication in insect disease vectors
Abstract
Acoustic signalling has been extensively studied in insect species, which has led to a better understanding of sexual communication, sexual selection and modes of speciation. The significance of acoustic signals for a blood-sucking insect was first reported in the XIX century by Christopher Johnston, studying the hearing organs of mosquitoes, but has received relatively little attention in other disease vectors until recently. Acoustic signals are often associated with mating behaviour and sexual selection and changes in signalling can lead to rapid evolutionary divergence and may ultimately contribute to the process of speciation. Songs can also have implications for the success of novel methods of disease control such as determining the mating competitiveness of modified insects used for mass-release control programs. Species-specific sound "signatures" may help identify incipient species within species complexes that may be of epidemiological significance, e. g. of higher vectorial capacity, thereby enabling the application of more focussed control measures to optimise the reduction of pathogen transmission. Although the study of acoustic communication in insect vectors has been relatively limited, this review of research demonstrates their value as models for understanding both the functional and evolutionary significance of acoustic communication in insects.
Citation
Vigoder , F D M , Ritchie , M G , Gibson , G & Peixoto , A A 2013 , ' Acoustic communication in insect disease vectors ' , Memorias do instituto oswaldo cruz , vol. 108 , no. Supplement 1 , pp. 26-33 . https://doi.org/10.1590/0074-0276130390
Publication
Memorias do instituto oswaldo cruz
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0074-0276Type
Journal article
Rights
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.