Blood-sucking insects are important vectors of disease, with biting Diptera (flies) alone transmitting diseases that cause an estimated 700 000 human deaths a year. Insect vectors also bite nonhuman hosts, linking them into host-biting networks. While the major vectors of prominent diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, and Zika, are intensively studied, there has been limited focus on the wider interactions of biting insects with nonhuman hosts. Drawing on network analysis and visualisation approaches from food-web ecology, we discuss the value of a network perspective for understanding host–insect–disease interactions, with a focus on Diptera vectors. Potential applications include highlighting pathways of disease transmission, highlighting reservoirs of infection, and identifying emerging and previously unrecognised vectors.

吸血昆虫是疾病的重要载体，仅叮咬双翅目（苍蝇）就会传播疾病，估计每年导致 70 万人死亡。昆虫载体也会咬非人类宿主，将它们连接到咬宿主的网络中。虽然对疟疾、黄热病、登革热和寨卡病毒等主要疾病的主要传播媒介进行了深入研究，但对叮咬昆虫与非人类宿主之间更广泛的相互作用的关注有限。借鉴食物网生态学的网络分析和可视化方法，我们讨论了网络视角在理解宿主-昆虫-疾病相互作用方面的价值，重点是双翅目载体。潜在应用包括突出疾病传播途径、突出感染宿主以及识别新出现的和以前未识别的载体。