Dose responses of tsetse flies (Glossina) to carbon dioxide, acetone and octenol in the field

Studies were conducted in Zimbabwe of the catch of Glossina pallidipes Austen from an electric net plus target baited with mixtures of acetone plus carbon dioxide or 1‐octen‐3‐ol (octenol) plus carbon dioxide. For acetone dispensed alone at 5–50, 000 mg h ‐1 , ten‐fold increments in the dose increased the catch 1.7 times. For carbon dioxide dispensed alone, dose increments from 12 to 1201 h ‐1 doubled the catch, but the catch was not further increased by dispensing carbon dioxide at 600–1200 1 h ‐1 . For mixtures of these two odours, ten‐fold increments in the dose of carbon dioxide between 12 and 12, 0001 h ‐1 increased the catch c . 2.5 times if acetone was also dispensed at >50 mg h ‐1 ; changes in the dose of acetone between 50 and 50 000 mg h ‐1 did not affect the catch. The addition of octenol (0.05 mg h ‐1 ) to carbon dioxide (12–12001 h ‐1 ) doubled the catch. Ten‐fold increments in the dose of octenol between 0.05 and 5 mg h ‐1 did not increase the catch significantly and the catch was independent of changes in the dose of carbon dioxide between 120 and 12001 h ‐1 . The behavioural basis of the dose‐response curves was investigated using an incomplete ring of electric nets to assess the flight orientation of tsetse in different odours. Upwind flight was not elicited by acetone or octenol alone, or by carbon dioxide unless it was at very high doses, however, mixtures of carbon dioxide with acetone or octenol elicited upwind flight. It is suggested that the attractiveness of mixtures of acetone and carbon dioxide is a function of the region of overlap of these two odours at above threshold concentration. Acetone and octenol on their own appear to increase the responsiveness of flies to visual cues.