Compounds from the metasternal and Brindley's glands of the blood-sucking bug, Triatoma infestans, were identified by solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Volatile compounds released by adult bugs during copulation or after mechanical disturbance were also characterized. Six compounds were identified and found consistently in all samples from metasternal glands. The most abundant were 3-pentanone, 2-methylbutanol, 3-pentanol, and an unidentified compound. The metasternal gland blends did not differ qualitatively between sexes. Compounds found in Brindley's glands were short chain acids, alcohols, esters, and a ketone with no qualitative differences between sexes. Isobutyric acid was the main component of this blend, and two new confirmed compounds were described as products of these glands: 2-butanone and 2-methylbutyric acid. 3-Pentanone was collected from the headspace over 33% of the copulating pairs of T. infestans. Volatiles found in the headspace of disturbed T. infestans adults included short-chain fatty acids, alcohols, esters, and ketones, with no qualitative differences between sexes. Both types of glands apparently discharge their contents after disturbance. However, most of the volatiles released by bugs after disturbance came from Brindley's glands. The locomotor activity of fourth instars increased significantly after stimulation with the odors emitted by disturbed adults, as compared with larvae stimulated by the odor of undisturbed adults or by clean air. We also studied the directional behavioral response of fifth instars to the disturbance scent in a locomotion compensator. Larvae exposed to volatiles released by disturbed adults walked away from the direction of the odor. The results suggest that this blend or part of it functions as an alarm pheromone for T. infestans. We suggest that the metasternal glands of this species are involved both in the sexual and the alarm contexts, and that the Brindley's glands probably have both alarm and defensive roles.

Factors affecting mating behaviour in the bug Triatoma infestans were quantitatively studied in the laboratory. Experimental conditions were established so that the probability of copulation increased with the time elapsed since the first adult meal. Copulatory attempts by males did not vary as a function of time, but rejections by females became significantly less frequent with the post feeding time. Non-receptive females displayed four types of rejection behaviour, i.e. flattening, stridulation, evasion and abdominal movements. The occurrence of stridulation performed by females in a sexual context was observed in a regular fashion and was quantified for the first time in this species.

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Assembling behaviour associated with mating was investigated in Triatoma infestans. The spatial distribution of both sexes was observed by video films, in the presence or absence of a copulating pair. Males aggregated around copulating pairs. Females did not exhibit this behaviour and their mean spatial density remained unaffected. Spontaneous aggregation tendency was observed in males in the absence of a copulating pair, but the temporal course significantly differed from that observed in the presence of a mating pair. Results support the existence of an aggregation signal that is released during mating, affecting the behaviour of males.

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