Mosquito specialization on human hosts

What ecological traits enable mosquitoes to live among and bite humans so successfully?

Surviving across the dry season

In places with long, hot dry seasons, like the West African Sahel, human-specialist mosquitoes depend on human water storage for habitat for their aquatic larvae. One major research focus in the lab is how climate shapes mosquito ecology and the evolution of specialization on humans.

Urban adaptation

Mosquitoes in dense urban habitats have to adapt to living around and biting humans. Another major research focus in the lab is the genomic and ecological basis of urban adaptation in mosquitoes.