Like Jurassic Park, Mosquitoes Can Capture an Entire Ecosystem in Their Blood Meals

Jurassic Park He may have exaggerated what mosquito DNA can reveal, but he got one thing right. Mosquitoes feed on an extraordinary range of animals – a habit that makes them uniquely suited to sample the life around them.

A new study published in Scientific reports suggests that mosquitoes could do much more than spread disease. By analyzing mosquito blood meals collected at a protected site in central Florida, researchers identified the DNA of 86 vertebrate species, showing how these insects can capture a remarkably comprehensive snapshot of the animals living around them.

“Using mosquitoes, we captured vertebrates ranging from the smallest frogs to larger animals like deer and cows,” Lawrence Reeves, Ph.D., an entomologist at the University of Florida and lead author of the new study, said in a press release. “And animals with very diverse life histories: arboreal, migratory, resident, amphibious and native, invasive or endangered.”

Mosquitoes sample entire animal communities

The research took place at DeLuca Preserve, a protected conservation area managed by the University of Florida about 80 miles south of Orlando. Over eight months, the team collected tens of thousands of mosquitoes and analyzed more than 2,000 blood meals for traces of DNA from mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Unlike environmental DNA collected from water, soil or air, mosquito blood meals provide a very precise snapshot in space and time. After feeding, most mosquitoes only travel a few hundred meters, and the DNA they carry degrades within a day or two. This means that each blood meal reflects animals that were present nearby very recently, rather than weeks or months earlier. Indeed, each blood-fed mosquito records who has passed through an ecosystem and where.

In this case, the mosquitoes’ diet consisted of a wide range of animals, including rattlesnakes, bald eagles, coyotes, otters, toads, alligators, and even gopher tortoises protected by their shells. Of the large animals known to roam the preserve, the only one missing was the Florida panther, an endangered species.

Why Mosquitoes Make Powerful Wildlife Surveyors

The study aimed to determine whether mosquito DNA sampling could offer a practical complement to traditional wildlife surveys, which are often time-consuming, expensive and require specialist expertise. Previous work has shown that commonly used tools such as camera traps tend to favor larger ground-dwelling animals, while neglecting many birds, reptiles, amphibians and other hard-to-detect species.

Because mosquito-based sampling requires less equipment and can capture a broader sample of wildlife at once, this approach could help researchers monitor ecosystems more broadly and more frequently, especially in places where time, funding, or access is limited.

Learn more: Cases of mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus increase due to travelers and climate change

An unlikely ally for conservation

Mosquitoes are usually portrayed as pests or disease vectors, not ecological helpers. But the researchers say their findings highlight a neglected role these insects already play.

“I’m well aware of the disdain humans have for mosquitoes. It’s completely justified. Mosquitoes don’t do much to make it seem like they’re an important part of ecosystems,” Reeves said. “But in their ecosystems, they play important roles, and we show here that they can help monitor other animals for conservation or to inform how we manage ecosystems.”

The method could be particularly useful for tracking elusive or endangered species – or for spotting invasive animals before they spread.

Learn more: First mosquitoes discovered in Iceland, probably due to climate change

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