HOST RESPONSE PROFILES - A NEW THEORY TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY AND HOW ATTRACTANTS ATTRACT

Much insect behavior is better described in terms of response profiles than by classical stimulus-response patterns; the response to a parti cular stimulus may vary with changing internal and external conditions , making it important to qualify statements such as ''compound X is an attractant.'' Because of the large number of conditions that may affe ct responses, it is crucial to develop a theoretical basis to direct t he collection of field and experimental data, and their interpretation . A theory-driven model can help us predict response profiles over a w ide range of such conditions. We describe an example of such a model, the assumptions upon which it is based, how the model is constructed, and the types of results that a computer implementation of the model c an produce.