Observations on the behavior of female Culex pipiens, with special reference to reactions against expiration

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  • Kurihara Takeshi
    Department of Parasitology, Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Tokyo

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  • アカイエカ雌の容器内における行動特に呼気に対する反応
  • アカイエカ メス ノ ヨウキ ナイ ニ オケル コウドウ トクニ コキ ニ タイスル ハンノウ

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Abstract

Observations were made on the behavior of unengorged female mosquitoes of Culex pipiens s. l. in the laboratory with special reference to the reaction to expired breath and to carbon dioxide. 1. The mosquitoes were released in glass cylinder, 15cm. in diameter and 20cm. in height with glass as the bottom, and the top was covered by a layer of gauze. They were mostly found to stay still on the side wall in the day as well as in the nighttime, but became active twice a day towards sunset and sunrise, and kept to fly around in the container. Such activity were seen either in a room exposed to the sunlight or in a closed chamber under constant illumination. 2. The mosquitoes so far stayed still on the glass wall started to fly immediately after expiration was introduced into the container with a rubber tube. Then, they mostly landed on the gauze surface, walked around and repeatedly stinged the proboscis through the gauze. The rates of mosquitoes thus reacted under various conditions were observed. Such behovior was obviously connected with their blood sucking action, since the rate of mosquitoes which actually bit the human skin through gauze and took the blood meal was much higher in the lots to which expiration was intrduced tran in those which were kept isolated from it. 3. The stinging reaction on the gauze released by introduction of expiration was seen only when the gauze cover was situated towards the top and on the side, but not in the position towards the bottom. Among various materials tested in the place of gauze, the mosquitoes exhibited such stinging reaction only to those surface, such as cloth, screen or sand paper, but not to those with smooth surface like glass. Among the sand papers with various grades of roughness, the rate of reaction was higher as the sand particles became larger. 4. Such effect of the expiration as the stimulant was removed when it was washed with NaOH solution. On the other hand, the effect was released with the air to which 1 to 3 percent of chemically produced carbon dioxide was mixed.

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