Mosquitoes of the North West Midlands of England: Their ecology and the role of olfaction in their sugar feeding behaviour.

摘要: Mosquito studies have historically been triggered by proximate threat of disease, causing studies to focus on those species and localities where disease is a current problem. The study of British mosquitoes has, therefore, been neglected somewhat since the eradication of P. vivax malaria in the British Isles. As a result there is a paucity of recent data regarding the distribution of mosquito species.Because disease has been such a strong driver of research, most studies have centred on the host seeking behaviour of mosquitoes and the chemical cues that inform it. Much less studied is how mosquitoes find sugar meals. Sugar feeding can be thought of as fuelling the life and everyday function of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes which are well fed on sugar typically have physiological and behavioural advantages which allow for increased reproductive fitness (Foster, 1995). Therefore, those physiological, physical and behavioural traits which make mosquitoes adept at finding sugar meals persist and develop, increasing trait prevalence in the population.