Pollen from maize or sweetcorn is known to be an important food source for the larvae ofAnopheles arabiensis,and consequently cultivation of the crop can increase malaria transmission in endemic areas. However, maize is an economically important food crop and farmers cannot just stop growing the crop because of the malaria risk. Therefore, it is important to understand how the interaction between maize and the mosquito works…and then disrupt it.

Mosquitoes take olfactory cues from plants and microbes when determining where they lay their eggs (oviposition).In 2016，Betelehem的奇迹和同事确定了由水稻植物产生的挥发物，这些挥发物参与吸引妊娠（鸡蛋）蚊子到稻田。他们发现水稻顶空（稻米植物上方的空气）提取物，其中包括β-豆脂，decan，sullcatone和柠檬烯等化合物，吸引了蚊子，但仅在中剂量下吸引。高剂量的顶空提取物将蚊子放下。

In their paper published inMalaria Journalthis week, Betelehem Wondwosen and colleagues from Ethiopia and Sweden, looked specifically at how gravid mosquitoes are able to detect where the maize fields are. They found that the gravid mosquitoes took their oviposition cues from headspace volatiles made by the pollen. The volatiles specifically attract gravid mosquitoes through smell to them and then stimulate them to lay their eggs. They identified five biological compounds in the headspace extract: benzaldehyde, nonanal, p-cymene, limonene and α-pinene.

Now that we know what the mosquitoes use to hone in on breeding sites, we can use this information against the mosquito. The five-compound extract identified by Betelehem Wondwosen in theMalaria Journalpaper can be synthetically produced. At the very least, using the synthetic odours would confuse gravid mosquitoes, so they don’t lay their eggs in maize fields (and a ready source of food for their larvae) but potentially the synthetic compound can be used in malaria elimination programmes. The synthetic compound can be used to lure gravid mosquitoes to traps. Whatsmore, farmers can continue to grow maize for food.