Biting time of day in malaria mosquitoes is modulated by nutritional status.

Background: Transmission of vector-borne pathogens follows daily rhythms, occurring at the time of day that vectors forage for blood. Control measures such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) have been particularly successful for reducing malaria transmission, because they exploit the nocturnal biting behaviour of the Methods: We provided female Results: Nutritional resources determine both the likelihood and time of day that host seeking occurs. Specifically, low-resourced mosquitoes were 2-3 fold more likely to host seek overall, and 5-10 fold more likely to host seek at an earlier time of day than well-resourced mosquitoes (fed 10% sucrose with and without an additional blood meal), which predominantly sought a host in the second half of the night time. Conclusions: We reveal that mosquito nutritional condition drives plasticity in biting time of day, suggesting it is an underappreciated contributor to residual malaria transmission. Furthermore, our results suggest that targeting mosquito nutrition (e.g. sugar-baited traps) could influence mosquito behaviour in ways that affect the success of ITNs. More broadly, understanding the drivers of biting time of day variation is crucial for the future success of vector control tools and controlling malaria transmission.