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By combining studies of a malaria-carrying mosquito species, the researchers found that no other animal relied solely on them for food.
The study, conducted by researchers from Imperial College London, suggests that the mosquito can be reduced or even eliminated in local areas without impacting the ecosystem.
Locally eliminating this species of mosquito could drastically reduce malaria cases, although the team noted that more research is needed in the field to verify that the ecosystem is not significantly disturbed. In 2016, there were about 216 million cases of malaria and about 445,000 deaths, mostly children under five.
Many strategies are currently being proposed to eliminate malaria, and one promising solution is to use genetically modified mosquitoes to suppress mosquito populations
In sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of malaria cases occur, only a handful of mosquito species
An international team of researchers, called Target Malaria, targets one of these species, Anopheles gambiae with a view to eventual suppression at the # 39, using genetic engineering
. is attempted the team needed to predict the impact of local suppression An. gambiae .
Now, in a report published in Medical and Veterinary Entomology the team reviewed previous studies on this mosquito species to see how it fits into the world. Ecosystem
team found that some animals eat An. gambiae but those who eat it also eat other species of mosquitoes and other insects, which means that they do not need to A. gambiae to survive
"As adults, mosquitoes an. gambiae are small, hard to catch , very mobile at night and not juicy, so they are not a rewarding prey for both insects.Many people eat them, sometimes accidentally, but there is no evidence that they make up an important part or important to the diet of any other animal, "said Tilly Collins, author Main of the Center for Environmental Policy at Imperial. "There is a curious jumping spider known as the" vampire spider "that lives in homes around the shores of Lake Victoria and has a fondness for female blood-fed mosquitoes, while females fed blood are easy and nutritious prey. their meal of blood, but this spider easily eats other species of mosquitoes available when the opportunity presents itself. "
The team also examined the mosquito larvae 'habitats.Mouse mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in small temporary ponds and puddles away from predators.' are laid in larger ponds, predators that feed on them also eat a lot of other things preferentially.
In addition to what eats An. gambiae The team also reviewed what is in competition with them.
If a species is removed from an ecosystem, it may mean that a competing species, or species that uses a resource similar food, grows many more numbers to fill the space.This can become a problem if the competing species carries its own dangers, as if it carries a different human disease like yellow fever.
L & # 39; team found that other esp these mosquitoes are more likely to compensate An. gambiae although laboratory studies and field studies, as well as evidence of past eliminations of mosquitoes, for example by spraying of mosquitoes. insecticide, do not always agree
to validate and improve their results. A study conducted by the University of Ghana and the University of Oxford that will study An. Gambiae in the local environment in Ghana
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