Effects of blood meal source on food resource use and reproduction inTriatoma patagonicaDel Ponte (Hemiptera, Reduviidae)

Abstract

Triatoma patagonica (Del Ponte, 1929) (Hemiptera-Reduviidae) is a peridomestic vector of Chagas disease that has been frequently found colonizing peridomestic structures in several localities in Argentina. Studying relationships between feeding and reproductive factors is important because these traits regulate population density and define vectorial capacity. Since T. patagonica can circulate among peridomestic structures taking blood from both bird and mammal hosts, we evaluated the extent to which different blood meal sources affect food resource use and reproductive parameters. We used 5 th instar nymphs and females that fed on either guinea pigs or pigeons to estimate food resource use. We estimated reproductive parameters in adults that fed on these sources. Nymphs and adults showed differences in blood consumption between feeding sources. Females fed on pigeons ingested more blood and needed a higher amount of blood to produce an egg than females fed on guinea pigs. There were no differences in the number of eggs laid and hatched between insects fed on different feeding sources. The higher amount of blood ingested and consumed by T. patagonica fed on pigeons did not translate into higher fecundity or fertility. The lower amount of guinea pig blood ingested was offset by its high nutritional quality. Journal of Vector Ecology 38 (1): 127-133. 2013.

Comparison of biological fitness in crosses between subspecies of Meccus phyllosomus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) in southern Mexico

“…The egg eclosion rates of most of the studied cohorts (with the exception of M. p. phyllosomus ) are comparable with those of different species of triatomines (e.g., T. ryckmani Zeledón and Ponce, T. juazeirensis and T. patagonica Del Ponte) (Zeledón et al ., ; Lima‐Neiva et al ., ; Nattero et al ., ), as well as with those of the 3 parental lines, as identified in previous studies (Martínez‐Ibarra et al ., , a, b). Moreover, the average incubation period was approximately 19 d, indicating favorable maintenance conditions for the development of these groups.…”

Morphological and Genetic Differentiation within the Southernmost Vector of Chagas Disease: Triatoma patagonica (Hemiptera – Reduviidae)

“…Crosses within each population were not performed since the number of fifth instar nymphs that CeReVe could supply was very limited. Nevertheless, intra-population crosses were performed with the same environmental conditions and feeding frequency for RN population and previously published [34]. …”

Evolutionary ecology of Chagas disease; what do we know and what do we need?

“…This feature suggests that triatomines can easily adapt to new blood sources if their natural hosts disappear (as can occur when human and its domestic animals invade new areas), and potentially use human/domestic animals without a real evolutionary cost. Some studies have measured different life‐history traits of triatomines in relation to different blood hosts (Emmanuelle‐Machado et al., ; Gomes, Azambuja, & Garcia, ; Guarneri, Araujo, Diotaiuti, Gontijo, & Pereira, ; Guarneri, Pereira, & Diotaiuti, ; Lunardi, Gomes, Peres Camara, & Arrais‐Silva, ; Martinez‐Ibarra, Grant‐Guillen, Nogueda‐Torres, & Trujillo‐Contreras, ; Martinez‐Ibarra et al., ; Medone, Balsalobre, Rabinovich, Marti, & Menu, ; Nattero, Leonhard, Rodriguez, & Crocco, ; Nattero, Rodriguez, & Crocco, ), as well as blood host preferences (Crocco & Catala, ; Gürtler et al., ; Jiron & Zeledon, ). This kind of studies can shed light on the attractiveness of human and/or domestic animals as blood hosts, as well as the performances and advantages/disadvantages to feed on them, and can thus help predicting the potential for domiciliation of different triatomine populations (Guarneri et al., ).…”