title: Why is the effect of malaria parasites on mosquito survival still unresolved?
abstract: Despite almost a century of effort, the question of whether malaria parasites kill their mosquito vectors remains open. Some direct comparisons of the longevity of infected and uninfected mosquitoes have found malaria-induced mortality, whereas others have not. Here, we use meta-analysis to show that, overall, malaria parasites do reduce mosquito survival. However, mortality effects are more likely to be detected in unnatural vector-parasite combinations and in studies of longer duration. Until these factors are systematically investigated, no firm generalities are possible.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. heather.ferguson@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Read
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity