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Relevant temperatures in mosquito and malaria biology

  • Chapter
Ecology of parasite-vector interactions

Part of the book series: Ecology and control of vector-borne diseases ((ECVD,volume 3))

Abstract

Most biological process-based models that approximate temperature to estimate the various mosquito and parasite life history variables that influence disease transmission intensity. However, mosquitoes, and parasites within them, do not experience ‘average temperatures’, but are exposed to temperatures that can fluctuate considerably throughout the day. In addition, endophilic mosquitoes will be exposed to indoor temperatures and not directly to outdoor air temperature. Further, mosquito larvae live in aquatic habitats and so again, are not exposed directly to outdoor air temperatures. In this chapter we highlight how these different temperatures can all change malaria risk predictions. To understand malaria dynamics, inform operational control objectives and predict consequences of climate change, we need a better mechanistic understanding of vector-parasite interactions, with improved integration of the biological and environmental parameters at a scale relevant to conditions actually experienced by both mosquitoes and malaria parasites.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by a Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) grant and a NSF-EID program grant (#EF-0914384).

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  1. Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics & Department of Entomology, Merkle Lab, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Krijn P. Paaijmans & Matthew B. Thomas

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  1. Krijn P. Paaijmans
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Correspondence to Krijn P. Paaijmans .

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Paaijmans, K.P., Thomas, M.B. (2013). Relevant temperatures in mosquito and malaria biology. In: Ecology of parasite-vector interactions. Ecology and control of vector-borne diseases, vol 3. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen. https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-744-8_5

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