Smelling plants and ponds changes a mosquito's favorite color to green

Smelling plants and ponds changes a mosquito's favorite color to greenWith their incessant buzzing and biting, and their ability to spread life-threatening diseases such as yellow fever and malaria, mosquitos are one of the most despised animals on the planet.But mosquitos aren't trying to hurt anyone.They are just trying to survive like everything else.These insects even play an important role in the ecosystem, potentially pollinating plants as they feed on nectar and providing a tasty treat for bats and birds.While scientists often study their sense of smellas it's what drives them towards humansmuch less is known about how they use their color vision to find humans, nectar and places to lay their eggs.'When yellow fever mosquitos (Aedes aegypti) smell carbon dioxide, it "turns on" their visual system and they become attracted to dark, high-contrast, objects.But, as you've probably noticed, humans, flowers and puddles look, and smell, very different', explains Adam Blake of the University of Washington, USA.This led Blake, along with Jeffrey Riffell, also of the University of Washington, USA, to ask how the scents a mosquito smells might change the way they see the world.