English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Released

Journal Article

Extreme sensitivity in an olfactory system

MPS-Authors
There are no MPG-Authors in the publication available
External Resource
Fulltext (restricted access)
There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.
Fulltext (public)
There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe
Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Angioy, A., Desogus, A., Barbarossa, I., Anderson, P., & Hansson, B. (2003). Extreme sensitivity in an olfactory system. Chemical Senses, 28(4), 279-284. doi:10.1093/chemse/28.4.279.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0014-5BFA-6
Abstract
We recorded olfactory-induced cardiac responses to evaluate olfactory response thresholds to behaviourally relevant odours in a moth. Specific antennal receptor neurons enable insects to detect biologically meaningful odours such as sex pheromones and host-plant volatiles. The response threshold values demonstrated here are well below anything earlier reported in any organism. A heart response was triggered by less than six molecules of the most efficient odours hitting the antennae of the insect. The behavioural significance of this extreme sensitivity most likely lies in the creation of awareness and readiness to respond behaviourally at higher concentration levels.