Measuring Mosquito Spectral Sensitivity Using Electroretinograms

Abstract

Mosquitoes use a variety of cues to locate resources in the world around them, including olfactory, thermal, and visual stimuli. Understanding how mosquitoes perceive these stimuli is important for understanding and investigating mosquito behaviors and mosquito ecology. Specifically, mosquito vision can be studied in many ways, including by using electrophysiological recordings from their compound eyes. Electroretinograms can be used to characterize the spectral sensitivity of a mosquito species, revealing the wavelengths of light they can perceive. Here, we provide details on how to perform and analyze these recordings.