Meeting Abstract
In this experimental study we film the landings of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to characterize landing strategies and kinetics, limitations, and the passive physiological mechanics they employ to engage a surface. A typical landing on a vertical surface involves 1-2 bounces before the mosquito firmly affixes to a surface, which act to reduce inbound momentum by more than half. Mosquitoes initially approach landing surfaces at 0.2 – 0.6 m/s, decelerating to zero velocity in approximately 3 ms at accelerations as high as 13 gravities. Impacts are damped by deforming forelimbs and buckling of the proboscis, which also serves to distribute the impact force, lessening the potential of detection by a mammalian host. The incoming threshold velocity which produces rebound too vigorous for tarsal attachment was observed to be approximately 1.35 mph, indicating host motion is an effective deterrent against mosquito bites.
