The Anopheles Gambia mosquitos that carry the malaria parasite are very good at finding humans to bite.

Scientists understand well how they follow the heat and CO2 a person emits, and how they see humans at close range, but how fine-tuned is their sense of smell at a distance? Researchers from Zambia and the US built a large, enclosed laboratory
to identify the types of scents mosquitos are most attracted to.

They call it the world’s largest mosquito ‘perfumery’: a tennis court-sized, netted enclosure with human-scent-baited traps, and cameras that track mosquitos as they search for prey in the night.

The findings identified a menu of specific smells (chemicals) that mosquitos just can’t resist.

The findings may lead to better weapons against the pest, like improved repellants or irresistible traps.

Getting inside the mosquito brain is one of many approaches to reducing the enormous toll of malaria, which kills over half a million people every year and impacts half of the world’s population.

Aljazeera.