OSU Entomologist Megan Meuti: Can We Trick Mosquitoes, Stopping Them from Biting Us?

Her presentation begins at 4:10 p.m., Pacific Time. The Zoom link:  https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/99515291076 

"Northern house mosquitoes, Culex pipiens, transmit West Nile virus to birds and people in the United States," Meuti says in her abstract. "However, transmission is limited to a few months of the year when female mosquitoes are actively biting and reproducing. During autumn, females of Cx. pipiens enter a physiologically dynamic but arrested state of development known as diapause where they divert resources from reproduction to survival."

Meuti and members of her lab study (1) how mosquitoes are able to measure daylength and whether the circadian clock is involved and (2) how human-mediated changes to the environment, like light pollution and higher temperatures in urban heat islands, affect mosquito seasonality, and how this might affect disease transmission in cities. 

Meuti holds three degrees from OSU:  dual bachelor degrees in microbiology and entomology in 2008; and her doctorate in 2014 in entomology. Studying with major professor David Denlinger, she completed her dissertation on "Circadian Clocks and Photoperiodic Diapause in the Northern House Mosquito, Culex pipiens: Search for the Missing Link.” 

Prior to joining the OSU faculty, Meuti served as a visiting professor in the Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in 2015-16.

"Many of us intuitively recognize that our mosquito problems are seasonal; there are times of the year when mosquitoes are abundant and we cannot go outside without getting bitten (e.g. late spring and summer), while there are other times when we enjoy a reprieve from mosquito bites (e.g. late fall and winter)," Meuti writes on her website. "I am interested in how precisely mosquitoes are able to tell what time of year it is and appropriately respond to their environment. Members of my lab group study how circadian clock genes might allow mosquitoes to measure day length to determine the time of year; how male mosquitoes change their accessory gland proteins to influence female behavior and physiology; and whether mosquitoes in urban environments are active for longer periods during the year and/or bite humans more frequently. We use a variety of molecular, genetic and physiological techniques to investigate these questions. Our ultimate goal is to uncover specific ways to manipulate seasonal responses in insects so that we can more effectively control them."