Frequency tuning of swarming male mosquitoes (Aedes communis, Culicidae) and its neural mechanisms

Abstract

The primary function of hearing in mosquitoes is believed to be intraspecific communication. This view dictated the principle of many behavioral studies, namely, the attraction of male mosquitoes to the sounds that mimicked a female tone. However, after the avoidance response to certain frequencies of sound was demonstrated, it became clear that attraction tests cannot fully account for all the capabilities of the mosquito auditory system. In addition, the tuning curves obtained by electrophysiological measurements differ from the behavioral ones. We designed a simple but robust field test based on responses of swarming mosquitoes to sound stimulation, but not limited to the attraction response. Here we report the auditory thresholds over a wide range of sound frequencies measured in the field from swarms of Aedes communis mosquitoes. In parallel, the auditory sensitivity of male mosquitoes taken from the same swarms was measured electrophysiologically. Surprisingly, we found high acoustic sensitivity; 26 dBSPL on average, in the frequency range 180–220 Hz (ambient temperature 12 °C). In addition, responses were found in the high-frequency range, 500–700 Hz (the so-called 'mirror channel'). Two types of auditory units were recorded: more sensitive broadband neurons and less sensitive units with distinct narrow (quality factor Q6 = 7.4) frequency tunings in the range 180–350 Hz. We propose that the former provides the detection of signal while the latter are used for frequency identification in order to make a behavioral choice.