SENSORY PHYSIOLOGICAL-BASIS FOR ATTRACTION IN MOSQUITOS

Hematophagous insects use air-borne chemical cues to guide them to res ources such as blood-meal hosts, plants, and oviposition sites. Resear ch that combines behavioral and electrophysiological approaches to the study of how insects find these resources can result in useful inform ation about what chemical signals a mosquito can detect and at what ai rborne concentrations such compounds are effective. Such studies have helped clarify the role of lactic acid, ammonia, carbon dioxide, octen ol, phenols, temperature, and humidity in the attraction of mosquitoes , tsetse flies, and ticks to blood-meal hosts. Egg raft pheromone, ind oles, cresols, methyl cyclohexanol, 2-butoxy ethanol, and fatty acid e sters have been examined with respect to oviposition site location and selection. Plant volatiles have received less attention but electroph ysiological responses to terpenes and green plant volatiles have been observed. Information from studies of this type can be useful in the d esign of both attractants and more effective repellents.