Selection of biting sites by mosquitoes.
Most blood-feeding arthropods feed at specific sites on their hosts. There can be many reasons for such non-random distributions and not all of them are related to active selection of feeding sites by the parasites. Observations of mosquito biting on humans revealed that most species have preferred biting sites and that not all species share the same preferences. The selection of these sites may be related to several factors, depending on the mosquito species, which include the visual and chemical properties of the host. Identification of these factors can provide us with information on cues that are important in the finding and selection of a host. The choice of biting sites can be influenced by host-related cues of varying specificity. Therefore, it can in some cases reflect the host range of the mosquito species.
Department of Entomology, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands.
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de Jong
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Knols
D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings