These mosquitoes, they hum..in harmony

March 3, 2009 11:30 AM

TruceIn their seminal paper "Flying in Tune: Sexual recognition in mosquitoes", Gabrielle Gibson and and Ian Russel from the University of Greenwich discovered an inspiring phenomenon: male mosquitoes change their buzzing frequency to match that of a female mosquito. This synchronization brings their wing beats to within a millisecond or less of one another. The authors suggest that this phenomenon facilitates the mosquitoes' ability to copulate mid-flight. We take advantage of this phenomenon to engage the mosquitoes in song, inspired by the North Indian classical vocal tradition of Dhrupad.
posted by mnology (14 comments total)

That's incredibly creepy, and it actually sounds good. Wow.
posted by moonmilk at 11:37 AM on March 3

this phenomenon facilitates the mosquitoes' ability to copulate mid-flight.


After which, the male boasts about having joined "The Meter High Club".
posted by Joe Beese at 11:38 AM on March 3 [1 favorite]

This is incredible.
posted by Pants! at 11:39 AM on March 3

In their seminal paper

Hee hee
posted by koeselitz at 11:58 AM on March 3

I like how the mosquitoes are apparently glued or clamped to what looks like some sort of elaborate science fiction torture device, and teased into singing in hopes of scoring some tail, only to eventually die of exhaustion & sexual frustration, after which they are presumably replaced by a new bunch of suckers.

Couldn't happen to a nicer & more valuable species.
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:09 PM on March 3 [5 favorites]

In their seminal paper

OK - it sounds pretty seminal. But my question here is: just how seminal is this paper?

I've seen a lot of "seminal" papers in my time - some were literally oozing seminality, some had only the faintest whiff of semin. I've personally worked pretty damn hard to make some of my own papers are seminal as possible in the short time I have to write and semify them - with various levels of success. Thus, I think we should be told just what quanta of semin is involved in this particular paper.

For me, a ratio of 5 parts semin to 8 parts paper qualifies as a "basic" level of semination. Half semin to half paper - that when you're talking about "quite seminal". But to get up to a standard of pretty seminal, I think you'd wanna see a simple majority of semin versus paper. That might make the paper hard to read, especially if the pages get stuck together. But - basically - that's when you have a paper which announces clearly and categorically to the five senses of the reader: "Hey. I am really goddam seminal. You'd better make sure you don't accidentally put this paper in your pocket and forget it's there, because it may leave a nasty stain".

And that's the kind of seminal-fucking-bugpaper that I want to read on metafilter.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:15 PM on March 3 [3 favorites]

I like how the mosquitoes are apparently glued or clamped to what looks like some sort of elaborate science fiction torture device, and teased into singing in hopes of scoring some tail, only to eventually die of exhaustion & sexual frustration, after which they are presumably replaced by a new bunch of suckers.

Ah, high school.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:27 PM on March 3 [6 favorites]

You see the cast of a musical, I see the next target of a barbeque lighter and a can of air freshener.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:34 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

anyh pics of them screwing in mid-flight? sounds hot.
posted by Postroad at 1:08 PM on March 3

Exhaling on the mosquito: the carbon dioxide in our breath excites and entices the mosquitoes.

Please avoid applying pressure to the mosquito, touching its wings, or touching the wire to which the mosquito is attached. These actions can hurt the mosquito, free the mosquito or produce undesirable sounds.

Replace "mosquito" with "Human" and you'll have a good idea how we'll be treated by alien visitors.
posted by The Whelk at 2:11 PM on March 3

Couldn't happen to a nicer & more valuable species.

You wouldn't say that if you were malaria!
posted by Navelgazer at 3:44 PM on March 3

Fuck those jobless jerkoffs.
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:43 PM on March 3

"Couldn't happen have been orchestrated to by a nicer & more valuable species."
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:51 PM on March 3

each mosquito is equipped with a loud-speaker
posted by lukemeister at 10:04 PM on March 3