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Olfactory responses to attractants and repellents in tsetse
Author(s) -
Voskamp K. E.,
Everaarts E.,
Den Otter C. J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
medical and veterinary entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2915
pISSN - 0269-283X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2915.1999.00187.x
Subject(s) - biology , olfactometer , glossinidae , pheromone , zoology , odor , ecology , neuroscience , host (biology)
Summary The aims of this study were to investigate how antennal olfactory cells of tsetse (Diptera: Glossinidae) code odour quality and how they are able to discriminate between attractive and repellent odours. For Glossina pallidipes Austen, a survey is presented of the cells’ responses to attractive (1‐octen‐3‐ol, acetone, 3‐methylphenol, carbon dioxide) and repellent stimuli (2‐methoxyphenol, acetophenone, lactic acid, naphthalene). In addition, the responses of these cells to binary mixtures and the dose–response curves of 1‐octen‐3‐ol, 3‐methylphenol, 2‐methoxyphenol and acetophenone are presented. A minority of the cells responded to one attractant or repellent only, whereas the vast majority were excited by more than one of the attractive and/or repellent stimuli. It is proposed that the peripheral olfactory cells of tsetse discriminate between different compounds via an across‐fibre pattern coding, in which the cells that specifically code for attractants or repellents may play a substantial role in composing a unique excitation pattern that informs the central nervous system about the specificity of odours.