Triatomines of the Genus Rhodnius Do Not Mark Shelters with Feces
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Triatomines of the Genus Rhodnius Do Not Mark Shelters with Feces Katherine D. Mosquera 1 & Marcelo G. Lorenzo 1 Received: 21 May 2020 / Revised: 24 June 2020 / Accepted: 12 July 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Aggregation to volatile compounds emitted by feces has been demonstrated for several triatomine species. This signal guides the insects to suitable places that offer physical protection while providing contact with conspecifics. Though the use of aggregation marks has also been reported for Rhodnius spp., it is still unclear whether feces really cause these insects to aggregate inside shelters. In two-choice assays using artificial shelters, we found that refuges associated with a blend of synthetic compounds based on volatiles released by the feces of some triatomine species and reported to be attractive to several species, did not induce shelter choice in Rhodnius prolixus Stål, 1859. In addition, we show that refuges associated with feces of conspecifics did not induce shelter choice in R. prolixus, R. robustus Larrousse, 1927, R. neglectus Lent, 1954, and R. ecuadoriensis Lent and León, 1958. In contrast, as expected, control experiments with Triatoma infestans (Klug, 1834), another triatomine known to aggregate in shelters marked with feces, definitely showed preference for shelters containing feces of conspecifics. Our results clearly show that volatile signals associated with feces do not mediate shelter choice in Rhodnius spp. As a consequence, a paradigm shift will be necessary and, consequently, ab ovo investigations on the clues inducing aggregation behavior in these species. Keywords Triatomines . Rhodnius . Aggregation . Fecal signals . Shelter choice . Chagas disease
Introduction Triatomine bugs are hematophagous insects of medical importance, because they transmit the flagellate parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (Pérez-Molina and Molina 2018). Insects of the triatomine genus Rhodnius are occurring in 28 geographical provinces from Central America to southern Brazil, comprising a total of 20 species (Abad-Franch and Monteiro 2007; Justi and Galvão 2017). A recently described species, R.taquarussuensis (da Rosa et al. 2017), turned out to be a phenotypic form of R. neglectus Lent, 1954 (Nascimento et al. 2019). Despite being mainly sylvatic, several Rhodnius species may invade domestic and peridomestic environments, generating the risk of disease transmission (Gurgel-Gonçalves et al. 2008; Abad-Franch et al. 2009). In particular, R. prolixus Stål, 1859 develops large colonies inside houses and is one of the main species transmitting Chagas Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-020-01199-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Marcelo G. Lorenzo [email protected] 1
Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, Instituto René Rachou-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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