TERPENE-SENSITIVE RECEPTORS IN FEMALE CULEX-PIPIENS MOSQUITOS - ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

Mosquitoes feed on plants extensively and depend on them as a source of energy for flight and metabolic maintenance; yet little attention has been given to the cues that mosquitoes use to locate and choose appropriate host plants in their environment. This paper describes the electrophysiological characteristics of antennal olfactory receptors in Culex pipiens females that detect terpenes (constituents of essential plant oils) and the results of a behavioural assay that suggest a possible role for these compounds in the short-distance feeding behaviour of this species.