sugar feeding
ingestion of sugar solution
IDOMAL:0002318
IDOMAL:0002318
When the tarsi of a walking mosquito touch a drop of sugar solution the mosquito stops moving or turns, and directs its proboscis towards the stimulus. The tip of the proboskis is placed in contact with the fluid, and when the chemosensory hairs on the aboral surface of the labella are stimulated the labellar lobes spread apart giving the so-called labellar response. Once the labellar lobes have parted, the oral surfaces of the ladella lie flat on the droplet and the external surfaces face away from it. The fluid immediately spreads over the hydrophilic oral surfaces of the labella and their chemosensilla, and over the ligul, submerging the tip of the labrum. When touched by fluid the ligula rapidly increases in size, probably due to a combination of physical forces on the cuticle and internal pressure of haemolymph.
idomal_namespace