Mosquito antennae could unlock new ways of detecting natural disasters

Monitoring and detecting natural disasters could be improved through a more thorough understanding of mosquito antennae that are being recreated at Purdue University.

Purdue University professor Pablo Zavattieri holds a 3D-printed mosquito head. His team is recreating mosquito antennae to better study their sensitivity to vibrations, which may improve how natural disasters are monitored and detected
Purdue University professor Pablo Zavattieri holds a 3D-printed mosquito head. His team is recreating mosquito antennae to better study their sensitivity to vibrations, which may improve how natural disasters are monitored and detected - Purdue University photo/Drew Stone

Research groups under Purdue professors Pablo Zavattieri and Ximena Bernal conducted this work, which is published in Acta Biomaterialia.

“We’re still in the early stages but we’re pretty optimistic that we’ll at least learn a great deal,” said Zavattieri, the Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor of Civil Engineering in Purdue’s College of Engineering. “Taking inspiration from nature and using it to advance scientific research has been a core feature of engineering since the very beginning.”

Mosquitoes rely on their antennae to navigate the auditory landscape, homing in on critical sounds amid the background noise of their own wingbeats.

Through analysis of the mosquitoes’ antennal features - particularly the arrangement and morphology of sensory hairs - civil and construction engineering PhD candidate and team researcher Phani Saketh Dasika said they have already gained insights into how these adaptations enhance the auditory sensitivity and selective response to environmental cues.

“Using advanced micro-CT imaging to create high-fidelity CAD models for finite element analysis, we found that the architectural features of mosquito antennae enable species- and sex-specific acoustic target detection, even amid non-target signals like their own wingbeats,” Dasika said in a statement. “Our findings also suggest that mosquito antennae are capable of detecting a broader range of frequencies than previously thought, though not all of these may be actively utilised.”

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox