image: The inner workings of a mosquito’s antennae and the device inspired by it.
Credit: Daniel Pastor and Yu-Chan Chen on flickr (CC0)
PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2026 — Mosquitoes are generally considered a nuisance, if not a deadly, malaria-carrying pest. Despite their peskiness, their delicate antennae — which can identify other insects using vibrations — have inspired ultrasensitive next-generation sensors.
Researcher Daniel Pastor from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow will present the designs for his antennae-inspired sensor Monday, May 11, at 1:40 p.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.
“Mosquito antennae are highly sensitive to tiny vibrations in the air, especially those generated by wingbeats,” Pastor said. “These vibrations are processed by specialized sensory organs that enable mosquitoes to detect potential mates, as in the case of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. In other species, such as Uranotaenia lowii, these sensory mechanisms are adapted to detect frog calls, allowing females to locate amphibian hosts for blood feeding.”
The specialized organ is called Johnston’s organ, and it sits at the bottom of the antennae. When this organ detects vibrations, it generates its own oscillations, amplifying the signal for the mosquito’s detection.
Beyond the organ, the structure of the antennae is specialized to detect weak signals. They’re segmented, which allows them to be flexible to a wide range of frequencies. They’re also covered with fine, feathery hairs, which increase their surface area and allow them to detect smaller values of viscous drag. This makes them more sensitive to air vibrations.
Using these concepts as inspiration, the researchers developed a mechanical prototype to demonstrate that their sensor could work without amplification circuits or signal processing and filtering. They observed that their sensor was able to enhance vibration signals simply based on the geometry of the device.
“Nature provides efficient solutions that can inspire new technologies, especially in achieving high sensitivity without increasing energy consumption,” Pastor said.
The researchers’ amplification of weak vibrations using a passive, bio-inspired device is a feat that was thought to only be possible with electronics or algorithms. Despite their success, human-made devices still struggle to match the amplification capabilities found in living organisms.
“Our findings could benefit acoustic and vibration sensors that need to detect very weak signals, such as microphones, environmental monitoring devices, or biomedical sensors,” Pastor said. “In particular, applications where low energy consumption is critical could take advantage of passive amplification mechanisms.”
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The Acoustical Society of America is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.
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