A Wind Tunnel for Odor Mediated Insect Behavioural Assays

Summary

Here, we describe the construction and use of a wind tunnel for odor mediated behavioural assays with insects. The wind tunnel design facilitates the release of odor sources by several methods, with and without visual stimuli. Wind tunnel experiments are important methods to identify behaviorally active volatile chemicals.

Abstract

Olfaction is the most important sensory mechanism by which many insects interact with their environment and a wind tunnel is an excellent tool to study insect chemical ecology. Insects can locate point sources in a three-dimensional environment through the sensory interaction and sophisticated behavior. The quantification of this behavior is a key element in the development of new tools for pest control and decision support. A wind tunnel with a suitable flight section with laminar air flow, visual cues for in-flight feedback and a variety of options for the application of odors can be used to measure complex behaviour which subsequently may allow the identification of attractive or repellent odors, insect flight characteristics, visual-odor interactions and interactions between attractants and odors lingering as background odors in the environment. A wind tunnel holds the advantage of studying the odor mediated behavioural repertoire of an insect in a laboratory setting. Behavioural measures in a controlled setting provide the link between the insect physiology and field application. A wind tunnel must be a flexible tool and should easily support the changes to setup and hardware to fit different research questions. The major disadvantage to the wind tunnel setup described here, is the clean odor background which necessitates special attention when developing a synthetic volatile blend for field application.

Introduction

The wind tunnel is an important tool in insect chemical ecology studies that allow laboratory testing of insect flight responses to semiochemicals. By releasing odors into a controlled wind stream, the insects' behavioural response to these stimuli can be directly monitored by studying their upwind flight towards the source. Olfaction is the most important sensory mechanism by which many insects interact with their biotic environment¹. Insects use odor cues to find suitable partners for mating. Similarly, they use odor bouquets from host resources to find food for themselves, or the offspring. Plants release floral odors in combination with....

Protocol

1. Preparing Glass Tubes

1. Prepare the glass tubes (e.g., 2.8 cm diameter, 13 cm long) and close one end with a plastic snap cap.
2. Separate 10 insects into the capped glass tubes and cover the remaining end with gauze using a rubber band. Allow the insects to acclimatize to the temperature, light conditions and humidity of the wind tunnel room for at least 2 h.
   NOTE: The number of insects inside each tube depends on the species and research question.

2. .......

Discussion

The wind tunnel is a helpful tool for identifying both attractive and repellent odors for many insects^4,9. With sound knowledge of the ecology, biology and behaviour of the insect studied, its flight characteristics can be easily identified and the environmental conditions, wind speed, visual stimuli and odor application can be tailored to fit. It is recommended when starting out with a new species, to fine tune the wind tunnel parameters using the most attractiv.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Flight arena	any	NA	Construct to fit the filter housing
Filter housing x 2	Camfill Farr		Contains the dust and charcoal filters
Fan x 2	Fischbach	Model D640/E35	Silent fan with continous dimmer switch
Perforated grids	any	NA	Two different open areas are needed, e.g. 54 and 51%
Flowmeter	Swema air	Swema air 300	Identifying the wind speed
Ultrasonic sprayer	SonoTek		Sprayer nozzle with conical tip and inserted microbore
Broadband ultrasonic generator	SonoTek		Function generator
Syringe pump	CMA microdialysis	CMA 102	Liquid delivery
FEP tubing	CMA microdialysis		0.12 mm inner diameter
Tubing adaptors	CMA microdialysis		Connectors for zero internal volume
Gastight syringe	any	NA	1000 µL syringe for headspace collections and synthetic blends
Gastight syringe	any	NA	1000 µL syringe for cleaning sprayer
Torch	any	NA	Small light source for checking sprayer release
Timer	any	NA	Timer with alarm function
Holder for insect release	any	NA	Metal construction
Lighting	any	NA	LED is preferable due to low heat production
Moisturiser	any	NA	Size depends on volume of wind tunnel room
Temperature control	any	NA	Temperture range depends on species
Glass tubes	any	NA	Tubes (2.8 cm diameter, 13 cm long) for  insects
Snap cap	any	NA	Snap cap that fits the glass tube
Gauze	any	NA	Fabric to close the glass tube
Rubber band	any	NA	To hold gauze in place
Glass cylinder	any	NA	Cylinder for odour containment and landing platform (10 cm diameter, 12.5 cm long)
Glass jars	any	NA	Glass jars for dynamic headspace collection
Connectors and tubes	any	NA	Tubes and connectors depends on type of glass jars
Air supply	any	NA	From laboratory air or bottles
Charcoal filters	any	NA	For cleaning the outside air sypply
Vial	any	NA	Small vial with water to keep plant material fresh
Oven	any	NA	Heat metal and glassware to 300 degrees to decontaminate