No evidence for long-range male sex pheromones in two malaria mosquitoes

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Résumé

Cues involved in mate seeking and recognition prevent hybridization and can be involved in speciation processes. In malaria
mosquitoes, females of the two sibling species Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. coluzzii mate in monospecific male swarms and
hybrids are rare. Long-range sex pheromones driving this behaviour have been debated in literature but so far, no study has
proven their existence or their absence. Here, we attempted to bring to light their existence. To put all the odds in our favour, we
used different chemical ecology methods such as behavioural and electrophysiological assays as well chemical analyses, and
we worked with mosquitoes at their optimal physiological mating state that is with swarming males during their natural swarming windows. Despite all our efforts, our results support the absence of long-range sex pheromones involved in swarm detection
and recognition by females. We briefly discuss the implications of this finding in ecology, evolution and for control strategies.

Mots-clés

chemical ecology, cues, Anopheles s.l, pheromones, swarms