Dried out but alive: how mosquitoes survive 8 months

Abstract

How malaria mosquitoes persist during the dry season in the Sahel and rapidly rebound at the onset of rains is unclear. Recently, Faiman and colleagues demonstrated that aestivation, a summer dormancy mechanism, is a major persistence strategy of Anopheles mosquitoes, which could be targeted by vector control.

Keywords: Anopheles mosquito; aestivation; isotopic labelling; long-distance migration; malaria.