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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Published on: November 21, 2015
Roles and effects of environmental carbon dioxide in insect life
Pablo G Guerenstein1, John G Hildebrand
1Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0077, USA. pgg@neurobio.arizona.edu
Abstract:
Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) is a ubiquitous sensory cue that plays multiple roles in insect behavior. In recent years understanding of the well-known role of CO(2) in foraging by hematophagous insects (e.g., mosquitoes) has grown, and research on the roles of CO(2) cues in the foraging and oviposition behavior of phytophagous insects and in behavior of social insects has stimulated interest in this area of insect sensory biology. This review considers those advances, as well as some of the mechanistic bases of the modulation of behavior by CO(2) and important progress in our understanding of the detection and CNS processing of CO(2) information in insects. Finally, this review briefly addresses how the ongoing increase in atmospheric CO(2) levels may affect insect life.
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