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Distance Orientation of Biting Flies to Their Hosts

  • Symposium V: Host-Seeking Mechanisms of Arthropods of Medical and Veterinary Importance
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Abstract

In the first section of this review, the stimuli involved in orienting biting flies to their hosts from a distance are discussed under the following headings: (1) Appetitive search—driven by endogenous rhythms and hunger. (2) Activation—the switchover from search behaviour to active host-location brought about in the insect by host-originating stimuli including, depending on species, carbon dioxide, visual contact, and specific host odours. (3) Attraction—the process of active host-location through which the insect comes into the immediate vicinity of the host. This relies on host-originating stimuli including visual contact and olfactory stimuli such as carbon dioxide, volatiles such as acetone, and specific, usually very potent host-related odours. The second part of this review discusses the properties of the odour plumes biting flies rely on to locate the host. Possible methods of host-location using air-borne odour plumes are presented and the “positive anemotaxis” model based on moth pheromone work is stressed.

Résumé

La première section de ce compte rendu examine les stimulus qui dirigent de loin les mouches piquantes vers leurs hôtes et les présente sour les titres suivants: (1) La recherche de l’hôte—commandée par des forces appetitives, par les rythmes endogènes et par la faim. (2) L’activation—l’arrêt de la recherche de l’hôte par vole non-dirigé et le début de la localization active de l’hôte, un comportement suscité par les stimulus originant de l’hôte. Ceux-ci, dépendant de l’espèce de mouche, peuvent inclure le gaz carbonique, la vue de l’hote et des odeurs spécifiques provenant de l’hôte. (3) L’attraction—la procédure de la localization active par laquelle l’insecte se rapproche très près de l’hôte. Elle dépend de stimulus originant de l’hôte: le contact visuel, le gaz carbonique, les produits chimiques volatils comme l’acétone par exemple, et des odours spécifiques et puissants liées a l’hôte. La seconde partie de ce compte rendue considère les propriétés du panache d’odeur avec lequel les mouches piquantes repèrent leurs hôtes. Des façons emportés par la vent sont suggérées en entrant en ligne de compte la modèle de “anemotaxis” positif, trouvé dans la littérature sur les pheromones des papillons de nuit.

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  1. Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada

    James F. Sutcliffe

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Sutcliffe, J.F. Distance Orientation of Biting Flies to Their Hosts. Int J Trop Insect Sci 8, 611–616 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400022682

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