Host-seeking behavior is a biologically programmed process in which a parasitic or hematophagous organism locates and orients toward a suitable host using multimodal sensory cues. It typically integrates olfactory, visual, thermal, hygrosensory, and sometimes mechanosensory inputs, processed by specialized peripheral receptors and central neural circuits to drive directed locomotion or flight. In arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks, host-seeking behavior is modulated by internal physiological state (e.g., gonotrophic cycle, starvation), circadian rhythms, and environmental conditions, and is critical for successful blood feeding, host-parasite interaction dynamics, and transmission of pathogens within ecological and epidemiological systems.
They may look like any ordinary species of flies buzzing around on any given day, but the New World screwworm is quite extraordinary. Screwworm flies are highly destructive parasitic flies that feed on the tissue of warm-blooded ...
Ecology
Aug 12, 2026
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Some mosquitoes really are picky eaters. They will not just stick their proboscis into any old human. We know this anecdotally, with some people claiming they are always bitten while others are completely ignored, though ...
For the first time, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, has demonstrated that insects can mimic floral scents to manipulate pollinators.
Plants & Animals
Jul 29, 2026
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Insect wings are bristling with senses, feeling the wind blowing and even tasting potential mates, but little was known about whether moth wings are equipped with a sense of smell. Sonja Bisch-Knaden and Bill Hansson from ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 27, 2026
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Jessica Metcalf's work stinks. Literally. But the Colorado State University professor's research may be key to protecting livestock and wildlife from a flesh-eating parasite.
Plants & Animals
Jul 24, 2026
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University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climate shifts throughout Earth's ...
Evolution
Jul 20, 2026
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An international team of researchers developed a new way to uncover hidden differences in how viruses infect and destroy individual microbial cells—solving a biological puzzle that has persisted for more than 80 years.
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 15, 2026
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Deer keds—biting flies found across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas—use their eyes and flight to locate a host, typically deer, but occasionally humans or other mammals. Once they land, however, they shed their wings ...
Plants & Animals
May 31, 2026
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Every summer, millions of people spray themselves with DEET to keep mosquitoes away. But new research suggests mosquitoes may be able to learn to associate the repellent with food—and even become attracted to it.
Plants & Animals
May 28, 2026
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Researchers at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB), led by Prof. Gracjan Michlewski, have shown that a subtle difference at the very beginning of an RNA molecule can influence how strongly ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 15, 2026
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