Sugar is a natural component of the diet of adult mosquitoes, both female and male, and is derived from plants, mainly in the form of nectar or honeydew. In the males of practically all species, and among the females of many or most, plant sugar is essential for optimum fitness. It is utilized for all energy-demanding activities, including survival, flight, and reproduction. The energy derived from vertebrate blood is often either insufficient to meet a female mosquito's needs, or prevents the blood meal's full use to meet the female's reproductive potential. Thus, sugar feeding is usually an integral part of adult behaviour. The ability of mosquitoes to find sources of sugar is not well understood. It appears that both the visual and chemical properties of flowers act as orientation cues to mosquitoes for locating floral nectar, just as they do for pollinators. The volatile chemical components of flowers serve as synomones for pollinators and as kairomones to the mosquitoes that steal nectar. Floral volatiles are typically a mixture of compounds, principally terpenes, phenylpropanoids and benzoids, and fatty acid derivatives. It is possible that some of them may serve as attractants in traps, providing an economical alternative to the use of carbon dioxide as a bait in traps used to monitor mosquito populations. Some of these compounds and their mixtures have been tested in the laboratory or field, and their ability to attract mosquitoes has been measured. Results of floral-baited trap catches indicate that mixtures are important, that attraction can be high, and that the sex and species attracted differs from catches in traps using other types of attractants. Index terms: mosquito, sugar, nectar, floral, attractant.

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