12 

 Temperature changes of 0.05°C can be detected, allowing a 2 kg animal to be 



detected from a distance of 2 m, provided the change in temperature is rapid [12]. 



Mosquito activity has been found to be greatly reduced for temperatures below 52- 



56"? [14,15]. 



Moisture 



Humidity may play a role in determination of suitable locations for oviposition 

 by the female [4]. In contradiction to this is a theory that the reception may just be 

 a reception of temperature changes rather than water vapor [16]. It has been 

 established that mosquitoes are attracted preferentially to humid, warm air rather 

 than dry, cold air. The attraction of mosquitoes to warm and damp areas may be 

 explained by humid conditions carrying temperature information better than dry 

 conditions [12]. The attraction to humidity alone is much less than attraction to 

 volatile chemical attractants. Experiments show dry emanations attracted 48% of 

 caged {ema\e Anopheles quadrimaciilatus versus 3% attraction to damp air alone [16]. 

 Carbon dioxide 



A component of exhaled breath is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a 

 stimulus for almost all species studied by Kline and others [3,7,11,12,15-18,20-24]. 

 The actual role of carbon dioxide still remains a mystery as to whether or not it 

 provides a cue for mosquitoes to alight [5]. Experiments have shown carbon dioxide 

 to bring mosquitoes to within two meters of a wood trap; however, they turn away 

 before being collected into this trap. Greater numbers were captured with plexiglass 

 traps; therefore, vision most likely plays a range in short range attraction in this case 



