TY - JOUR
T1 - Burst mode pumping
T2 - A new mechanism of drinking in mosquitoes
AU - Kikuchi, Kenji
AU - Stremler, Mark A.
AU - Chatterjee, Souvick
AU - Lee, Wah Keat
AU - Mochizuki, Osamu
AU - Socha, John J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Kamel Fezzaa and Alex Deriy for experimental help, Logan Miller for tomography analysis, Ting Guan and Yafei Zhang for help with stastics, Michael LaBarbera for help with viscosity measurements, and Sheila Patek and Sharri Zamore for thoughtful comments on the manuscript. Research was partially funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (0938047) and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Sciences at Virginia Tech to JJS and MAS, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI 25000008 and 16K14150) to KK. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Mosquitoes transport liquid foods into the body using two muscular pumps in the head. In normal drinking, these pumps reciprocate in a stereotyped pattern of oscillation, with a high frequency but small stroke volume. Do mosquitoes modulate their neuromotor programs for pumping to produce different drinking modes? More broadly, what are the mechanical consequences of a two-pump system in insects? To address these questions, we used synchrotron x-ray imaging and fluid mechanical modeling to investigate drinking performance in mosquitoes. X-ray imaging of the pumps during drinking revealed two modes of pumping: continuous reciprocation with multiple small strokes, and a newly discovered 'burst mode' involving a single, large-volume stroke. Results from modeling demonstrate that burst mode pumping creates a very large pressure drop and high volume flow rate, but requires a massive increase in power, suggesting that continuous pumping is more economical for drinking. Modeling also demonstrates that, from one mode of pumping to the other, the mechanical role of the individual pumps changes. These results suggest that the advantage of a two-pump system in insects lies in its flexibility, enabling the animal to pump efficiently or powerfully as demanded by environmental considerations.
AB - Mosquitoes transport liquid foods into the body using two muscular pumps in the head. In normal drinking, these pumps reciprocate in a stereotyped pattern of oscillation, with a high frequency but small stroke volume. Do mosquitoes modulate their neuromotor programs for pumping to produce different drinking modes? More broadly, what are the mechanical consequences of a two-pump system in insects? To address these questions, we used synchrotron x-ray imaging and fluid mechanical modeling to investigate drinking performance in mosquitoes. X-ray imaging of the pumps during drinking revealed two modes of pumping: continuous reciprocation with multiple small strokes, and a newly discovered 'burst mode' involving a single, large-volume stroke. Results from modeling demonstrate that burst mode pumping creates a very large pressure drop and high volume flow rate, but requires a massive increase in power, suggesting that continuous pumping is more economical for drinking. Modeling also demonstrates that, from one mode of pumping to the other, the mechanical role of the individual pumps changes. These results suggest that the advantage of a two-pump system in insects lies in its flexibility, enabling the animal to pump efficiently or powerfully as demanded by environmental considerations.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-22866-w
DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-22866-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 29559647
AN - SCOPUS:85044293488
VL - 8
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 4885
ER -