Humidity shapes the thermal niche of <i>Anopheles stephensi</i> , an invasive malaria vector
, an invasive urban malaria vector. When integrated into a demographic model, humidity markedly reshapes projections of population fitness relative to temperature-only models, suppressing growth and contracting year-round suitability in hot, arid regions while enhancing fitness in more humid or high-elevation climates characteristic of South Asia and Africa. Together, these results highlight the need to integrate multiple environmental drivers into projections of climatic suitability, as temperature-only approaches may mischaracterize both the magnitude and spatial structure of mosquito population fitness. More broadly, our findings demonstrate how moisture availability reshapes thermal niches, population fitness, and climate-driven projections of vector distributions.
Authors
- Ajeet Kumar Mohanty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8573-5353)
- Michael C. Wimberly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1549-3891)
- Brandyce St. Laurent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2957-5364)
- Joel J. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3608-6745)
- Brandon Hollingsworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1772-8191)
- L. W. Johnson
- Britny Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7494-5678)
- Courtney C. Murdock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5966-1514)
- Mercedes M. Pascual
- Eric R. Bump (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7249-2368)
- Jared Skrotzki
- Paul J Huxley
Institutions
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- University of York (GB)
- New York University (US)
- National Institute of Malaria Research (IN)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-03-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.28.715035
- Primary Topic
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases