Clement Vinauger
@thevinaugerlab.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Biochemistry Dpt & School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech. Disease vector insects, medical entomology, neuroethology, mosquitoes.
Check out this new preprint from the lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Lan Lou, @juliendevilliers.bsky.social, @karthikeyanc.bsky.social, @lahonderelab.bsky.social, the Tu Lab, and @joshuabenoit.bsky.social show that mosquito olfactory rhythms are synced with daily rhythms in how we smell.
Lan Lou, @juliendevilliers.bsky.social, @karthikeyanc.bsky.social, @lahonderelab.bsky.social, the Tu Lab, and @joshuabenoit.bsky.social show that mosquito olfactory rhythms are synced with daily rhythms in how we smell.
Temporal synchrony between human odor rhythms and mosquito olfactory preference shapes host attraction
For anthropophilic mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti, aligning host-seeking with human availability enhances foraging efficiency and reproductive success. Although time of day modulates mosquito activity and olfactory sensitivity, it remains unknown whether human hosts display rhythmic changes in odor cues and whether mosquitoes adjust their sensory responses accordingly. Here, we combine chemical, behavioral, genetic, and transcriptomic approaches to reveal that both mosquitoes and their human hosts in this interaction are temporally synchronized. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry showed systematic daily shifts in human body odor composition between morning and evening. Correspondingly, mosquitoes prefer host odors that match their own active phase, a time-specific preference abolished in timeless mutants and under constant darkness. Silencing the timeless gene further induced an aversion for the host scent under light-dark conditions. Transcriptomic analysis of mosquito heads and antennae uncovered rhythmic expression of sensory and neuromodulatory genes, driven by both circadian and light-dark cycles and which peaks during mosquitoes' active periods, with rhythmic co-expression networks collapsing in timeless knockouts. Together, these results show that mosquito attraction to humans is temporally tuned by the interplay of host odor rhythms and mosquito sensory rhythms, revealing a previously unrecognized form of interspecific temporal synchronization in vector-host interactions. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. National Institutes of Health, R01AI155785, R21AI166633, R01AI148551 National Institute of Food and Agriculture, VA-160212
www.biorxiv.org
January 22, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Check out this new preprint from the lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Lan Lou, @juliendevilliers.bsky.social, @karthikeyanc.bsky.social, @lahonderelab.bsky.social, the Tu Lab, and @joshuabenoit.bsky.social show that mosquito olfactory rhythms are synced with daily rhythms in how we smell.
Lan Lou, @juliendevilliers.bsky.social, @karthikeyanc.bsky.social, @lahonderelab.bsky.social, the Tu Lab, and @joshuabenoit.bsky.social show that mosquito olfactory rhythms are synced with daily rhythms in how we smell.
If you are attending #EntSoc25 in Portland, Check out the work of Sydney Luff and @mdessart.bsky.social who are representing the lab at the meeting!
As part of the @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social Lab, I'll present my work on mosquitoes facing threats on Wed at 10:30am in MUVE symposium! Sydney Luff from our lab will also present her work on mosquito activity in wild populations. Go check out her poster on Mon at 1:30pm! #EntSoc25
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
If you are attending #EntSoc25 in Portland, Check out the work of Sydney Luff and @mdessart.bsky.social who are representing the lab at the meeting!
Excited to see this story published from a great collaboration and support from the Global Change Center at @virginiatech.bsky.social @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social
Check out our newest paper on mosquito sugar feeding! 🦟🌸
This study was led M. VanderGiessen, F. Upshur & M. Cartadena-Guzman. A great collaboration with L. Escobar & @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social!
@globalchangebio.bsky.social @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jme/article-...
This study was led M. VanderGiessen, F. Upshur & M. Cartadena-Guzman. A great collaboration with L. Escobar & @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social!
@globalchangebio.bsky.social @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jme/article-...
Effect of landscape heterogeneity on mosquito abundance and sugar feeding behavior
Abstract. Mosquito-borne diseases pose a dire threat to humanity, claiming over 700,000 lives annually. At the local scale, the interplay between several e
academic.oup.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Excited to see this story published from a great collaboration and support from the Global Change Center at @virginiatech.bsky.social @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
New paper from the lab! When a mosquito ingests blood, the phagocytic activity of hemocytes increases with warmer environmental temperature and aging @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social @evolutionvu.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...
Redirecting
doi.org
September 30, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New paper from the lab! When a mosquito ingests blood, the phagocytic activity of hemocytes increases with warmer environmental temperature and aging @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social @evolutionvu.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...
Adaline Bisese, recipient of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, represented the lab and @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium yesterday. Stay tuned for exciting results on how mosquitoes choose where to land on our bodies!
August 1, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Adaline Bisese, recipient of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, represented the lab and @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium yesterday. Stay tuned for exciting results on how mosquitoes choose where to land on our bodies!
🚨New preprint from the lab! Work led by our talented former postdoc @karthikeyanc.bsky.social where we show that incomplete larval control can make things worse by producing bigger and meaner adult mosquitoes that are more efficient vectors of Zika. See thread below www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 24, 2025 at 9:55 AM
🚨New preprint from the lab! Work led by our talented former postdoc @karthikeyanc.bsky.social where we show that incomplete larval control can make things worse by producing bigger and meaner adult mosquitoes that are more efficient vectors of Zika. See thread below www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Interesting study! How the thermal tolerance of Aedes mosquito eggs varies depending on urbanisation - shows how critical developmental periods can facilitate adaptation to novel environments. Work from Souvik Chakraborty, @joshuabenoit.bsky.social & others www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪
Thermal tolerance of Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs is associated with urban adaptation and human interactions
Climate change will profoundly affect mosquito distributions and their ability to serve as vectors for disease, specifically with the anticipated incr…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 17, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Interesting study! How the thermal tolerance of Aedes mosquito eggs varies depending on urbanisation - shows how critical developmental periods can facilitate adaptation to novel environments. Work from Souvik Chakraborty, @joshuabenoit.bsky.social & others www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪
The lab is super excited to welcome @juliendevilliers.bsky.social as a new postdoc! Stay tuned for studies to come on mosquito olfactory rhythms and chemical ecology. @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social @vtcals.bsky.social
Glad to announce I joined the @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social lab this week! More work on mosquitoes and sensory system to come 🦟
March 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The lab is super excited to welcome @juliendevilliers.bsky.social as a new postdoc! Stay tuned for studies to come on mosquito olfactory rhythms and chemical ecology. @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social @vtcals.bsky.social
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Everyone who ever got funding through NIAID should be aware of this bill and start sending messages to their US legislators. The bill intends to dissolve NIAID. This is Project 2025
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov
February 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Everyone who ever got funding through NIAID should be aware of this bill and start sending messages to their US legislators. The bill intends to dissolve NIAID. This is Project 2025
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Giving Day is almost there! Initiatives around Global Climate Change need more support than ever! Please consider donating to the @globalchangevt.bsky.social tomorrow!
⏳ #VTGivingDay starts THIS Wednesday at noon!
Join us Feb 19-20 to support the GCC and drive real-world solutions through innovative environmental research, impactful education, and community outreach. 🌍💡
Share and stay tuned for how you can help!
Join us Feb 19-20 to support the GCC and drive real-world solutions through innovative environmental research, impactful education, and community outreach. 🌍💡
Share and stay tuned for how you can help!
February 18, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Giving Day is almost there! Initiatives around Global Climate Change need more support than ever! Please consider donating to the @globalchangevt.bsky.social tomorrow!
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
If we’re renaming bodies of water based on petty grievances, I propose that this be renamed the Kendrick Lamar passage.
February 12, 2025 at 10:06 AM
If we’re renaming bodies of water based on petty grievances, I propose that this be renamed the Kendrick Lamar passage.
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Do you want to know if global warming will impact how mosquito respond to viral infection? check our latest publication in Communications Biology rdcu.be/d8wse
Prolonged exposure to heat enhances mosquito tolerance to viral infection
Communications Biology - Single versus multi-generational exposure to increased temperature alters mosquito immune response to viral infection, with implications for mosquito-virus interactions...
rdcu.be
February 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Do you want to know if global warming will impact how mosquito respond to viral infection? check our latest publication in Communications Biology rdcu.be/d8wse
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Today at #scib2025, our lab tech Spruha Rami presented her exciting work recording the neural activity of the antennal lobe during mosquito sleep! Stay tuned for more from this work!
January 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Today at #scib2025, our lab tech Spruha Rami presented her exciting work recording the neural activity of the antennal lobe during mosquito sleep! Stay tuned for more from this work!
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
attn #SICB2025! a tech from my lab, Wayne Kuo, will be presenting a poster on fly landing! Find out how flies use mechanosensory info to decide when and how to land. Now soliciting names for our assay...we're currently calling it the Hokie Pokie
P4-67 on Tues Jan 7, part of "Flying and vision"
P4-67 on Tues Jan 7, part of "Flying and vision"
January 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
attn #SICB2025! a tech from my lab, Wayne Kuo, will be presenting a poster on fly landing! Find out how flies use mechanosensory info to decide when and how to land. Now soliciting names for our assay...we're currently calling it the Hokie Pokie
P4-67 on Tues Jan 7, part of "Flying and vision"
P4-67 on Tues Jan 7, part of "Flying and vision"
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
I created a starter pack highlighting Women in the field of Disease Vector Biology and Ecology: go.bsky.app/E7wuQus Please share and let me know if you’d like to be added! 🦟🦠🪰
December 10, 2024 at 3:28 PM
I created a starter pack highlighting Women in the field of Disease Vector Biology and Ecology: go.bsky.app/E7wuQus Please share and let me know if you’d like to be added! 🦟🦠🪰
The lab is super excited to welcome @mdessart.bsky.social as a new postdoc fellow! Stay tuned for the work to come on mosquito sensory ecology and chronobiology. Welcome, Martin!
I'm thrilled to announce that I've recently started a postdoc position at Virginia Tech, joining the @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social lab to continue diving into the fascinating world of mosquito behaviour! I'm enthusiastic to collaborate with a talented team and do exciting research on 🦟 🦟 🦟
December 13, 2024 at 2:01 AM
The lab is super excited to welcome @mdessart.bsky.social as a new postdoc fellow! Stay tuned for the work to come on mosquito sensory ecology and chronobiology. Welcome, Martin!
Great to see our former postdoc —now Assist. Prof. @ UC Riverside — Karthikeyan Chandrasegaran at the ESA meeting in Phoenix, AZ! His lab is recruiting at the graduate level. Reach out if you’re interested!
November 13, 2024 at 3:06 PM
Great to see our former postdoc —now Assist. Prof. @ UC Riverside — Karthikeyan Chandrasegaran at the ESA meeting in Phoenix, AZ! His lab is recruiting at the graduate level. Reach out if you’re interested!
New preprint in collaboration with Josh Benoit's group,
@lahonderelab.bsky.social and Mariangela Bonizzoni. We compared the activity and sleep profiles of multiple strains of Aedes albopictus and found some differences influenced by their geographic origin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@lahonderelab.bsky.social and Mariangela Bonizzoni. We compared the activity and sleep profiles of multiple strains of Aedes albopictus and found some differences influenced by their geographic origin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 18, 2024 at 1:24 PM
New preprint in collaboration with Josh Benoit's group,
@lahonderelab.bsky.social and Mariangela Bonizzoni. We compared the activity and sleep profiles of multiple strains of Aedes albopictus and found some differences influenced by their geographic origin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@lahonderelab.bsky.social and Mariangela Bonizzoni. We compared the activity and sleep profiles of multiple strains of Aedes albopictus and found some differences influenced by their geographic origin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Excited to share our newest paper on Aedes mosquito thermal biology now out in Global Change Biology! 🦟🌡️ Great collaboration with the Bonizzoni lab! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Population‐specific responses to developmental temperature in the arboviral vector Aedes albopictus: Implications for climate change
Global Change Biology is an environmental change journal tackling issues such as sustainability, climate change and environmental protection.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 10, 2024 at 7:34 PM
Excited to share our newest paper on Aedes mosquito thermal biology now out in Global Change Biology! 🦟🌡️ Great collaboration with the Bonizzoni lab! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Check out our newest paper on mosquito sugar feeding! This study led by PhD student Forde Upshur shows that mosquitoes, including invasive species such as Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, feed on a very wide range of wild & ornamental plants, and can obtain carbs throughout the season rdcu.be/dtwJO
December 13, 2023 at 5:59 PM
Check out our newest paper on mosquito sugar feeding! This study led by PhD student Forde Upshur shows that mosquitoes, including invasive species such as Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, feed on a very wide range of wild & ornamental plants, and can obtain carbs throughout the season rdcu.be/dtwJO
Reposted by Clement Vinauger
Our paper is now out in Science! Led by Jeremy Chan, we find that atmospheric pollutants negatively impact plant-pollinator interactions. A fantastic collaboration with Joel Thornton and others.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
At night, pollution keeps pollinating insects from smelling the flowers
Nitrogen radicals degrade key floral scents, threatening ecosystems and agriculture
www.science.org
February 8, 2024 at 11:35 PM
Our paper is now out in Science! Led by Jeremy Chan, we find that atmospheric pollutants negatively impact plant-pollinator interactions. A fantastic collaboration with Joel Thornton and others.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...