Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T21:52:34.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

ORIENTATION OF AEDES AEGYPTI IN VERTICAL AIR CURRENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

P. N. Daykin
Affiliation:
British Columbia Research Council, Vancouver, British Columbia

Abstract

The orientation of Aedes aegypti in an upward or downward vertical air current was studied. The vertical movements of A. aegypti which have been activated by CO2 are always against the air flow and toward the inlet end, where the insects alight and probe. With sufficient illumination A. aegypti locate an invisible artificial host whether it is at the top with air moving down or at the bottom with air moving up. They do not attempt to locate a visible, black, artificial host placed downstream. Body attitude is similar in upward or downward air flow. The mosquitoes follow the vertical movement of a surrounding spiral stripe pattern, whether stripe movement is upward or downward, whether air is still or moving vertically with or against the stripes. They will not fly against stripe movement to reach an upstream host, real or artificial. Repellent vapor destroys the upstream orientation when air flow is vertical but not when the flow is horizontal. The stripe-following action is not affected by repellent. The experiments indicate that A. aegypti possesses a vertical-air-speed sensor, of a mechanical type, to direct movement up or down in a vertical air stream. The cybernetic system must be complex and requires cooperative use of mechanical and optical sensory information channels. The initial action of repellent vapor appears to be peripheral rather than central to the nervous system, and to affect only the mechano-, chemo-, and thermo-receptors.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Clements, A. N. 1963. The physiology of mosquitoes. Macmillan Co., New York.Google Scholar
Daykin, P. N., Kellogg, F. E., and Wright, R. H.. 1965. Host-finding and repulsion of Aedes aegypti. Can. Ent. 97: 239263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellogg, F. E., and Wright, R. H.. 1962. The olfactory guidance of flying insects. III. A technique for observing and recording flight paths. Can. Ent. 94: 486493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, J. S. 1939. The visual responses of flying mosquitoes. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 109: 221242.Google Scholar
Wright, R. H., and Rayner, H. B.. 1960. The olfactory guidance of flying insects. II. Mosquito repulsion. Can. Ent. 92: 812817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar