Abstract
BackgroundTriatomine bugs are blood-sucking insects, vectors of Chagas disease. Despite their importance, their oviposition behavior has received relatively little attention. Some triatomines including Rhodnius prolixus stick their eggs to a substrate. It is known that mechanical cues stimulate oviposition in this species. However, it is not clear if chemical signals play a role in this behavior. We studied the role of host cues, including host odor, in the oviposition behavior of the triatomine R. prolixus.MethodsTests were carried out in an experimental arena and stimuli consisted of a mouse or hen feathers. The number of eggs laid and the position of those eggs with respect to the stimulus source were recorded. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.ResultsBoth a mouse and hen feathers stimulated oviposition. In addition, hen feathers evoked a particular spatial distribution of eggs that was not observed in the case of mouse.ConclusionsWe propose that volatile chemical cues from the host play a role in the oviposition behavior of triatomines that stick their eggs. Thus, host odor would stimulate and spatially guide oviposition.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0867-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Triatomine bugs are blood-sucking insects, vectors of Chagas disease
Because the oviposition behavior should have an impact on the growth of recently established populations we investigated the role of host cues, including host odor, in the oviposition behavior of the triatomine R. prolixus
We designed experiments to test the effect of host cues, including host odor, in the oviposition behavior of triatomines
Summary
Triatomine bugs are blood-sucking insects, vectors of Chagas disease Despite their importance, their oviposition behavior has received relatively little attention. Females of phytophagous and parasitoid insects place their eggs in sites where their offspring will find abundant and high-quality food resources, and/or enemy-free sites [4,5,6,7,8,9]. In those cases in which optimal oviposition sites are rare or difficult to find, female’s fitness would increase if oviposition is stimulated upon an encounter with a preferred site. Strong evidence suggests that ovarian dynamics in insects respond to variability in host quality and availability in adaptive ways [8]
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