title: Parasite transmission by insects: a female affair?
abstract: Understanding the relationship between the gender of insects and their ability to act as vectors of insect-borne diseases (IBDs) could provide clues as to the origin of the intimate interplay among insect, pathogen and vertebrate hosts. The vector activity of several species of blood-feeding insects is linked to adult females. Interestingly, the only known exception is the transmission of canine and human thelaziosis by a male dipteran fly. This biological difference raises the question as to whether the parasitic behaviour of male and female insects transmitting IBDs is an expression of a co-evolution of vectors and pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health, University of Bari, 70010, Valenzano (Bari), Italy. d.otranto@veterinaria.uniba.it
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Otranto
authors.forename: Jamie R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantacessi
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gasser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D004463:Ecology; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013045:Species Specificity