Fig. 7: Species-specific responses to dominant wavelengths.

a Electroretinogram (ERG) recordings from Ae. aegypti, An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. Each trace is the mean ± sem of 7–9 mosquitoes/species. b, c Retinal sensitivity to discrete wavelengths show that both An. stephensi (b) and Cx. quinquefasctiatus (c) have the strongest responses in the UV (360 nm) and green (520 nm) bands. The dashed line is the retinal sensitivity of Ae. aegypti. d Representative flight trajectories [(x,y) and (x,z)] of Cx. quinquefasciatus (left) and An. stephensi (right) mosquitoes. Cx. quinquefasciatus showed a mild attraction to the blue object (top), whereas An. stephensi showed an attraction to the red object (bottom). e, f Occupancy maps (x,y) of An. stephensi (e) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (f) distribution around the 452 nm (top) and 660 nm (bottom) objects during CO₂ exposure. g–i The preference indices for Ae. aegypti (g), An. stephensi (h) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (i) in response to the black, 660 nm (R-Hue), 510 nm (Gc-T1), and 452 nm (Bw-T1) objects. Lines are the means and shaded bars are the 95% confidence intervals, and letters above bars denote statistical comparisons (Kruskal–Wallis test with multiple comparisons: P < 0.05) (for Ae. aegypti, n = 29,254; 13,580; 18,190; and 12,086 trajectories; for An. stephensi, n = 5817; 9134; 2153; and 5627 trajectories; and for Cx. quinquefasciatus, n = 3746; 13,553; 4238; and 2835 for black, 660 nm, 510 nm, and 452 nm treatments, respectively).