Mosquito Electroantennography

Chloé Lahondère

doi:10.1101/pdb.top107679

Mosquito Electroantennography

Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2022 Jul 28. doi: 10.1101/pdb.top107679. Online ahead of print.

Author

Chloé Lahondère^{1

2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA lahonder@vt.edu.
² The Fralin Life Science Institute, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
³ The Global Change Center, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
⁴ Department of Entomology, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
⁵ Center of Emerging, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.

PMID: 35902242
DOI: 10.1101/pdb.top107679

Abstract

Mosquitoes use multiple cues to locate food sources (animal and plants), mates, and oviposition sites. The sense of smell plays an important role in these behaviors, and olfactory cues are detected primarily by the appendages on the head-in particular, the antennae. Thus, mosquito olfaction can be studied by conducting electroantennogram (EAG) recordings. EAGs have emerged as a reliable technique to screen for bioactive compounds and are useful in the development of attractants and repellents for mosquito population control. Here, we focus on comparing the two main experimental approaches used in the literature (whole-body and whole-head mounting) and highlight key considerations for conducting EAGs in multiple species and for obtaining reliable and reproducible data.