Polarization as a guiding cue for oviposition in non-biting midges and mosquitoes

Recently, a new utilization for light polarization has been demonstrated: the use of reflection polarizations from water surface to assess habitat quality and choose oviposition sites for water-living insects. While contradicting results were shown in the laboratory and at the natural habitat of long-living mosquitoes, their short-living, non-biting relatives, the chironomids (Chironomidae, midges, which serve as the host of the Cholera pathogen among many other species of bacteria), have shown clear response both under confined and unconfined conditions. The understanding of the advantage of following reflection polarizations to detect suitable reservoirs for oviposition opens a new research field of controlling pest insects using reflection-polarization traps, which has not been addressed to date.