Résumé
Insecticide-based vector control has been recognised as the principal contributor of the malaria-incidencereduction since 2000. Recently, this trend has worryingly stalled or even reversed in some countries. Oneidentified reason of such stall is the evolution of insecticide resistances to the widely used pyrethroidinsecticides in malaria vectors (Anopeheles sp.). Among them, behavioural resistance, i.e. behaviouralmodifications allowing to surpass the negative effects of insecticides, has been acknowledged but themechanisms involved are relatively unknown in malaria vectors. The sensory detection of pyrethroidmolecules by malaria mosquitoes has been proposed as one of the potential mechanisms that could explainsome forms of behavioural resistance. Indeed, several studies have identified a sensory-guided effect, such as repellency or even in some cases attraction, of malaria mosquitoes when confronted with pyrethroid-based vector control tools. Yet, the functional mechanisms of pyrethroid sensory detection in Anopheles sp.have not been yet described. In this work, we first studied the VOCs emitted by insecticide-treated nets(ITNs). Secondly, in a series of behavioral experiments, we determined that laboratory-reared An. gambiae(Gilles; Diptera, Culicidae) and wild Anopheles sp. mosquitoes are able to detect pyrethroid molecules froma distance and also, we identified that antennae and tarsi are the organs involved in such detection. Thirdly,we confirmed using electrophysiological techniques (EAG and SSR) the presence of sensory receptorshaving pyrethroid molecules as agonists in An. gambiae. All these findings shed light into the functionalmechanisms of pyrethroid sensory detection in malaria mosquitoes, and they open the door to further studytheir role in the still vastly unexplored evolution of behavioral resistances in disease vectors.