Recent
behavioral findings in female yellow fever mosquito
Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) led us to
investigate the electrophysiological response spectra of
sensilla trichodea A2-type in more detail. This
sensillum type houses two receptor cells which can be
distinguished by their different spike-amplitudes in
single-sensillum recordings. We have classified these
receptor cells based on their odor-evoked response
spectra to volatiles emitted from humans. These stimuli
included the natural multicomponent odors breath and
body odor as well as different concentrations of
following single compounds, which have been found in
human sweat: (1) L-(+)-lactic acid, the indispensable
synergist for other attractive components in behavioral
studies, (2) ammonia, and (3) n-aliphatic carboxylic
acids with chain length from C1 to C6. Our results show
several functional classes of receptor cells with
distinct overlapping response spectra. These classes are
mingled within the A2-type sensillum in varying pairs.
Index terms: Mosquito,
olfaction, host odor, single-sensillum recording,
sensillum trichodea.
Copyright:
The copyrights of this original work belong to the
authors (see right-most box in title table). This
abstract appeared in Session 4 – CHEMICAL AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL ECOLOGY Symposium and Poster Session,
ABSTRACT BOOK I – XXI-International Congress of
Entomology, Brazil, August 20-26, 2000.