Producing an annoying sound may seem like an unlikely way to attract a mate. But male and female mosquitoes buzz at each other to signal their interest, which sometimes leads to a harmonic duet (Click here to see them action).

As New Scientist reports – to investigate why mosquitoes would bother harmonising Lauren Cator and Laura Harrington at Cornell University in Ithaca, USA tethered female mosquitoes to strands of human hair and released three male suitors close to each one. Following the styles of Kim K and Paris, they captured the mating insects on video and took sound recordings of the encounters.

Harmonising males were much more likely to get lucky and to produce offspring. The males that couldn’t sing in tune were often rejected, with females kicking them, holding them away with their legs, or even tilting their abdomens to prevent genital contact, as shown in the video.

But some non-harmonising fellows were successful, so harmonising isn’t necessarily required for males and females to mate. To explore the benefits of the duet, the team mated five sons of both harmonising and non-harmonising males with an unrelated female.

They found that harmonising pairs was more likely to produce sons that could harmonise, suggesting that there is a genetic component to their musical ability. “By singing in synch, males might signal to females that they carry genes that create sexy sons”, says Cator.

The findings could improve current programs attempting to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases by releasing genetically modified or sterile males into the wild. For example, releasing harmonising GM males might outcompete wild mosquitoes faster than non-harmonisers.