ArticlePloS one2013
Malaria mosquitoes attracted by fatal fungus.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Conned by the enemy: the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae lures and kills Drosophila suzukii.Pest management science · 2026Article
- Maternal and cross-stage effects of Metarhizium pingshaense fungal infection on the malaria mosquito Anopheles coluzzii life-history.PloS one · 2026Article
- Entomopathogenic fungi bait and kill insects with longifolene.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- Engineered Metarhizium fungi produce longifolene to attract and kill mosquitoes.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- Volatile Semiochemicals Emitted byJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Facilitation ofHeliyon · 2024Article
- Harmful and Harmless Soil-Dwelling Fungi Indicate Microhabitat Suitability for Off-Host Ixodid Ticks.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Aphids May Facilitate the Spread of Sclerotinia Stem Rot in Oilseed Rape by Carrying and Depositing Ascospores.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Biotechnological Potential of Microorganisms for Mosquito Population Control and Reduction in Vector Competence.Insects · 2023Review
- A life-and-death struggle: interaction of insects with entomopathogenic fungi across various infection stages.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Pathogenic fungus uses volatiles to entice male flies into fatal matings with infected female cadavers.The ISME journal · 2022Article
- Larval Mortality and Ovipositional Preference in Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Induced by the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae).Journal of medical entomology · 2022Article
- Three reasons why expanded use of natural enemy solutions may offer sustainable control of human infections.People and nature (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2022Article
- The nesting preference of an invasive ant is associated with the cues produced by actinobacteria in soil.PLoS pathogens · 2020Article
- Mosquito Mycobiota: An Overview of Non-Entomopathogenic Fungal Interactions.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Eave tubes for malaria control in Africa: Videographic observations of mosquito behaviour in Tanzania with a simple and rugged video surveillance system.MalariaWorld journal · 2017Article
- Repellent activity of desiccant dusts and conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana when tested against poultry red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) in laboratory experiments.Experimental & applied acarology · 2016Article
- Cedrol, a malaria mosquito oviposition attractant is produced by fungi isolated from rhizomes of the grass Cyperus rotundus.Malaria journal · 2016Article
- Isolation of fungi from dead arthropods and identification of a new mosquito natural pathogen.Parasites & vectors · 2016Article
- Baculovirus-Induced Climbing Behavior Favors Intraspecific Necrophagy and Efficient Disease Transmission in Spodoptera exigua.PloS one · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Insect-killing fungi such as Beauveria bassiana are being evaluated as possible active ingredients for use in novel biopesticides against mosquito vectors that transmit malaria. Fungal pathogens infect through contact and so applications of spores to surfaces such as walls, nets, or other resting sites provide possible routes to infect mosquitoes in and around domestic dwellings. However, some insects can detect and actively avoid fungal spores to reduce infection risk. If true for mosquitoes, such behavior could render the biopesticide approach ineffective. Here we find that the spores of B. bassiana are highly attractive to females of Anopheles stephensi, a major anopheline mosquito vector of human malaria in Asia. We further find that An. stephensi females are preferentially attracted to dead and dying caterpillars infected with B. bassiana, landing on them and subsequently becoming infected with the fungus. Females are also preferentially attracted to cloth sprayed with oil-formulated B. bassiana spores, with 95% of the attracted females becoming infected after a one-minute visit on the cloth. This is the first report of an insect being attracted to a lethal fungal pathogen. The exact mechanisms involved in this behavior remain unclear. Nonetheless, our results indicate that biopesticidal formulations comprising B. bassiana spores will be conducive to attraction and on-source visitation by malaria vectors.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.