J. Meijerink et Jja. Van Loon, Sensitivities of antennal olfactory neurons of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, to carboxylic acids, J INSECT PH, 45(4), 1999, pp. 365-373
Single sensillum recordings on the antennae of female Anopheles gambiae s.s
. mosquitoes revealed neurons sensitive to aliphatic carboxylic acids withi
n (a) subtype(s) sensilla trichodea. The aliphatic acids, acetic acid, prop
ionic acid, butyric acid, iso-butyric acid and iso-valeric acid evoked an i
nhibition reaction in one of the cell types recorded from. A different cell
type was excited in response; to the former aliphatic acids, but showed a
broader range of sensitivity, as acids with a longer carbon chain length, L
ike caproic acid, elicited excitations as well. In addition, occasionally 1
-octen-3-ol elicited an excitation reaction. This article focuses on the ca
rboxylic acid inhibited cell type and its temporal pattern of response to d
ifferent doses of the compounds. Furthermore, in order to compare the stimu
latory effectiveness of the compounds on a per molecule basis, corrections
were made for differences in volatility by determining the absolute number
of molecules in the stimulus puff. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right
s reserved.