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Journal of Experimental Biology 33,478-492 (1956)
Published by Company of Biologists 1956

The Behaviour of the Female Mosquito in Selecting Water for Oviposition

B. N. ANNE HUDSON ¹

¹ Department of Entomology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

1. Egg-laying Culex molestus and Aëdes aegypti were able to discriminate between solution of NaCl ranging from 0 (distilled water) to 0.136 M. Significantly fewer eggs were laid in solutions above 0.085 M.

2. Similar series of solutions of KCl, MgCl₂ and Na₂SO₄ showed a similar distribution of eggs, but mosquitoes were apparently unable to distinguish between MgSO₄ solutions below 0.144 M.

3. Results from all these salts were related to the osmotic pressures produced, but experiments in which isotonic solutions of glucose and NaCl were offered simultaneously showed that osmotic pressure was not a critical factor.

4. Experiments were carried out to locate the sensory areas responsible for discrimination. The possibility that drinking might be associated with the choice of a solution for egg-laying was investigated by removing the proboscis; operated insects were still able to detect differences in concentration. Covering or removing various regions of the legs revealed that the chemoreceptors concerned were distributed on all the tarsi; indications that they may also be found on the tibiae were obtained.