Adults of many mosquito species feed on plants to obtain metabolic energy and to enhance reproduction. Mosquitoes primarily rely on olfaction to locate plants and are known to respond to a range of plant volatiles. We studied the olfactory response of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and cis-jasmone (CiJA), volatile compounds originating from the octadecanoid signaling pathway that plays a key role in plant defense against herbivores. Specifically, we investigated how Ae. aegypti of different ages responded to elevated levels of CiJA in two attractive odor contexts, either derived from Lima bean plants or human skin. Aedes aegypti females landed significantly less often on a surface with CiJA and MeJA compared to the solvent control, CiJA exerting a stronger reduction in landing than MeJA. Odor context (plant or human) had no significant main effect on the olfactory responses of Ae. aegypti females to CiJA. Mosquito age significantly affected the olfactory response, older females (7–9 d) responding more strongly to elevated levels of CiJA than young females (1–3 d) in either odor context. Our results show that avoidance of CiJA by Ae. aegypti is independent of odor background, suggesting that jasmonates are inherently aversive cues to these mosquitoes. We propose that avoidance of plants with elevated levels of jasmonates is adaptive to mosquitoes to reduce the risk of encountering predators that is higher on these plants, i.e. by avoiding ‘enemy-dense-space’.

许多蚊子的成虫以植物为食，以获取新陈代谢能量并促进繁殖。蚊子主要依靠嗅觉来定位植物，并且已知会对一系列植物挥发物做出反应。我们研究了黄热病蚊子Aedes aegypti对茉莉酸甲酯 (MeJA)和顺式茉莉酮(CiJA) 的嗅觉反应，这些挥发性化合物源自十八烷类信号通路，在植物防御食草动物中起关键作用。具体来说，我们调查了Ae. 不同年龄的埃及伊蚊在两种吸引人的气味环境中对 CiJA 水平升高作出反应，两种气味来自利马豆植物或人类皮肤。埃及伊蚊与溶剂对照相比，雌性在 CiJA 和 MeJA 的表面上着陆的频率明显低于溶剂对照，CiJA 的着陆减少比 MeJA 更强。气味背景（植物或人类）对Ae 的嗅觉反应没有显着的主要影响。CiJA 的埃及女性。蚊子年龄显着影响嗅觉反应，在任何一种气味环境中，老年女性（7-9 天）对 CiJA 水平升高的反应比年轻女性（1-3 天）更强烈。我们的结果表明，Ae 避免了 CiJA。埃及人与气味背景无关，这表明茉莉酸盐对这些蚊子来说是天生的厌恶线索。我们建议避开茉莉酸盐含量较高的植物对蚊子具有适应性，以减少遇到这些植物上较高的捕食者的风险，即通过避开“敌人密集空间”。