Eukaryotic parasites and pathogens continue to cause some of the most detrimental and
difficult to treat diseases (or disease states) in both humans and animals, while also …

Highlights•Hematophagous feeding relies on different gustatory sensilla of the insect
body.•Host skin recognition and blood quality are assessed by external and internal …

The sense of taste provides information about the “good” or “bad” quality of a food source,
which may be potentially nutritious or toxic. Most alkaloids taste bitter to humans, and …

Background Sugar, when used as the phagostimulant in attractive toxic bait control tools,
limits the efficacy and selectivity of this technology. Thus, more potent and selective …

Background Obligate blood-feeding insects obtain the nutrients and water necessary to
ensure survival from the vertebrate blood. The internal taste sensilla, situated in the pharynx …

Female mosquitoes feed on blood from animal hosts to obtain nutritional resources used for
egg production. These contacts facilitate the spread of harmful human diseases. Chemical …

Mosquitoes present a global health challenge due to their ability to transmit human and
animal pathogens upon biting and blood feeding. The investigation of tastants detected by …

Generalist pollinators like the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, encounter both
nutrients and toxins in the floral nectar they collect from flowering plants. Only a few studies …

Animals make use of contact chemoreception structures to examine the quality of potential
food sources. During this evaluation they can detect nutritious compounds that promote …

Mosquitoes vector dangerous human diseases during blood feeding. Gustatory (taste)
receptor neurons in the mosquito provide important chemical information including the …