Hunting with heat: thermosensory-driven foraging in mosquitoes, snakes and beetles

Abstract

Animals commonly use thermosensation, the detection of temperature and its variation, for defensive purposes: to maintain appropriate body temperature and to avoid tissue damage. However, some animals also use thermosensation to go on the offensive: to hunt for food. The emergence of heat-dependent foraging behavior has been accompanied by the evolution of diverse thermosensory organs of often exquisite thermosensitivity. These organs detect the heat energy emitted from food sources that range from nearby humans to trees burning in a forest kilometers away. Here, we examine the biophysical considerations, anatomical specializations and molecular mechanisms that underlie heat-driven foraging. We focus on three groups of animals that each meet the challenge of detecting heat from potential food sources in different ways: (1) disease-spreading vector mosquitoes, which seek blood meals from warm-bodied hosts at close range, using warming-inhibited thermosensory neurons responsive to conductive and convective heat flow; (2) snakes (vipers, pythons and boas), which seek warm-blooded prey from ten or more centimeters away, using warmth-activated thermosensory neurons housed in an organ specialized to harvest infrared radiation; and (3) fire beetles, which maximize their offspring's feeding opportunities by seeking forest fires from kilometers away, using mechanosensory neurons housed in an organ specialized to convert infrared radiation into mechanosensory stimuli. These examples highlight the diverse ways in which animals exploit the heat emanating from potential food sources, whether this heat reflects ongoing metabolic activity or a recent lightning strike, to secure a nutritious meal for themselves or for their offspring.