Mosquito eating spider opens new possibility for malaria control

The diet of a small Malaysian spider could hold the key to curbing the spread of some of the world's worst human diseases, such as malaria, according to research by New Zealand, Singaporean, Chinese and Malaysian scientists.

The researchers discovered that the Malaysian jumping spider ( Paracyrba wanlessi) was the first and only predator known to specialize in preying on mosquitoes during all stages of the insect's life cycle, from larva and pupa through to the flying, blood-sucking adult, University of Canterbury scientists involved in the study said Monday.

"This is remarkable because a mosquito larva or pupa living in water is a very different animal from the active flying adult mosquito that pesters us in its search for blood," Dr Fiona Cross said in a statement.

"The spider doesn't need to learn how to identify and capture these different stages of the mosquito. We gave the spider the choice between lots of different prey and it consistently went for mosquitoes, regardless of whether these mosquitoes were adults or juveniles."

In Malaysia, Paracyrba wanlessi lived in fallen bamboo shoots where water entered the wood through small holes, making an ideal place to find juvenile mosquitoes in water as well as adult mosquitoes that returned to the water to lay their eggs.

"Finding predators that single out mosquitoes as preferred prey is especially interesting to people because they kill the vectors of some of the most notorious human diseases, with malaria being at the top of the list," Cross said.

"We can't say at this stage whether Paracyrba wanlessi will be useful in the context of mosquito control, but the most important first step is to learn more about the biology of this unique predator."