Feeding behaviour of Belminus ferroae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), a predaceous Triatominae colonizing rural houses in Norte de Santander, Colombia

Abstract

Belminus ferroae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) was collected from houses in the localities of San Alberto and Santa Catalina in the municipality of Toledo, Department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. Precipitin tests revealed that the main hosts of B. ferroae are insects belonging to the order Blattodea, whose haemolymph serves as food (89.43%). A low rate of haematophagy was indicated on rodents, dogs and humans (7.32%) and no natural infection with Trypanosoma cruzi was found by either microscopic examination or polymerase chain reaction. The finding of B. ferroae inside houses, feeding primarily on Blattodea with only a minor tendency to feed on vertebrate blood, is indicative of both the evolutionary path from predator to blood-sucker taken by Triatominae and their tendency to adapt from silvatic to domestic habitats.

Evolution of hematophagous habit in Triatominae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae)

“…For example, some juvenile instars of E. mucronatus can feed on hemolymphs of large arachnids (Amblypygi) that dwell in trunks and hollow trees (Gaunt and Miles 2000). There are also reports of P. geniculatus feeding on moths during night capture (Garrouste 2009), and Belminus herreri (Lent & Wygodzinsky) and Belminus ferroae (Sandoval, Pabón, Jurberg & Galvão) have been detected feeding on members of the Blattidae family in Colombian dwellings (Sandoval et al 2004(Sandoval et al , 2010. On the other hand, in laboratory conditions, the R. prolixus nymphs practice cannibalism and cleptohematophagy (Piñero et al 1988).…”

“…The members of this subfamily are almost entirely hematophagous, although there are cases of some species that feed on other invertebrates (Sandoval et al 2004(Sandoval et al , 2010. It is known that triatomines live together with nidicolous (nesting) vertebrates, whose blood they extract for nourishment, and certain species infest human homes and buildings (Noireau and Dujardin 2010).…”

Malaria Mosquitoes Host-Locate and Feed upon Caterpillars

“…There is intriguing evidence that haematophagous insects can, and still do, feed on larval stages of other insects, which may have been a part of the evolution toward vertebrate blood-feeding. Triatomine bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) can also feed opportunistically on haemolymph of cockroaches (Blattodea) [7], [8], [9]. The proboscis extension and feeding behavior of triatomine on cockroaches suggests that arthropod haemolymph represents an alternative source of food for triatomines, and they have partially conserved their entomophagous behavior during their evolution to haematophagy [9].…”

Importance and Physiological Effects of Hemolymphagy in Triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

“…Although their preferred meal is blood from vertebrate hosts, unfed triatomine nymphs are often seen feeding on engorged triatomines, from which they can ingest hemolymph (a process called hemolymphagy [RuasNeto et al 2001]) or intestinal contents (a process called cleptohematophagy [Sandoval et al 2000]). Hemolymphagy and/or cleptohematophagy were previously described for several triatomine species, including Triatoma sordida (Torres 1915), Panstrongylus megistus (Abalos and Wygodzinsky 1951), Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma phyllosoma, Triatoma pallidipennis, Triatoma recurva (ϭTriatoma longipes), Triatoma quasayana (Ryckman 1951), Triatoma klugi (Emmanuelle-Machado et al 2002), Triatoma infestans, Triatoma protracta, Triatoma maculata (Brumpt 1914, Torres 1915, Ryckman 1951, Phillips 1960, Belminus herreri (Sandoval et al 2000(Sandoval et al , 2004, and Belminus ferroae (Sandoval et al 2010). Moreover, young nymphs of Eratyrus mucronatus seem to feed preferentially on invertebrates (Miles et al 1981).…”