Olfactory responses to attractants and repellents in tsetse

KE Voskamp, E Everaarts, CJ Den Otter*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    16 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)386-392
    Number of pages7
    JournalMedical and Veterinary Entomology
    Volume13
    Issue number4
    Publication statusPublished - Oct-1999

    Keywords

    • Glossina pallidipes
    • across-fibre pattern coding
    • antennal olfactory receptor cells
    • attractant
    • host odour
    • repellent
    • tsetse
    • Africa
    • GLOSSINA-M-MORSITANS
    • FLIES DIPTERA
    • CATTLE URINE
    • 1-OCTEN-3-OL
    • COMPONENTS
    • RECEPTORS
    • FIELD
    • ODOR
    • IDENTIFICATION
    • SUPPRESSION

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