Grass-like plants release general volatile cues attractive for gravid Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto mosquitoes

BACKGROUND: Understanding the ecology and behaviour of disease vectors, including the olfactory cues used to orient and select hosts and egg-laying sites, are essential for the development of novel, insecticide-free control tools. Selected graminoid plants have been shown to release volatile chemicals attracting malaria vectors; however, whether the attraction is selective to individual plants or more general across genera and families is still unclear. METHODS: To contribute to the current evidence, we implemented bioassays in two-port airflow olfactometers and in large field cages with four live graminoid plant species commonly found associated with malaria vector breeding sites in western Kenya: Cyperus rotundus and C. exaltatus of the Cyperaceae family, and Panicum repens and Cynodon dactylon of the Poaceae family. Additionally, we tested one Poaceae species, Cenchrus setaceus, not usually associated with water. The volatile compounds released in the headspace of the plants were identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS: All five plants attracted gravid vectors, with the odds of a mosquito orienting towards the choice-chamber with the plant in an olfactometer being 2–5 times higher than when no plant was present. This attraction was maintained when tested with free-flying mosquitoes over a longer distance in large field cages, though at lower strength, with the odds of attracting a female 1.5–2.5 times higher when live plants were present than when only water was present in the trap. Cyperus rotundus, previously implicated in connection with an oviposition attractant, consistently elicited the strongest response from gravid vectors. Volatiles regularly detected were limonene, β-pinene, β-elemene and β-caryophyllene, among other common plant compounds previously described in association with odour-orientation of gravid and unfed malaria vectors. CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms that gravid Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto use chemical cues released from graminoid plants to orientate. These cues are released from a variety of graminoid plant species in both the Cyperaceae and Poaceae family. Given the general nature of these cues, it appears unlikely that they are exclusively used for the location of suitable oviposition sites. The utilization of these chemical cues for attract-and-kill trapping strategies must be explored under natural conditions to investigate their efficiency when in competition with complex interacting natural cues. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04939-4.