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Med Vet Entomol

Title:		Female odours promote the activation of sheltered kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus males and modulate their orientation
Author(s):		Pontes G; Zacharias CA; Manrique G; Lorenzo MG;
Address:		"Laboratorio de Triatomineos e Epidemiologia da Doenca de Chagas, Instituto Rene Rachou/FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. gina@bg.fcen.uba.ar"
Journal Title:		Med Vet Entomol
Year:		2014
Volume:		28
Issue:		3
Page Number:		257 - 263
DOI:		10.1111/mve.12040
ISSN/ISBN:		1365-2915 (Electronic) 0269-283X (Linking)
Abstract:		"The existence of a pheromone emitted during copulation has been reported for Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Stal. Adults possess one pair of metasternal glands (MGs) from which female R. prolixus release volatiles mainly at night. We investigated whether these volatiles emitted by adult R. prolixus can modulate sexual-related behaviours of opposite and/or same sex individuals. We first used a shelter bioassay to test if adult activity patterns can be affected by chemical signals emitted by opposite sex conspecifics. We observed that males left the shelter more frequently in the presence of females, showing higher activity and an increase of intrasexual copulation attempts. Females showed no shelter-related activation in the presence of male odours. Second, we used a locomotion compensator device to investigate whether females or males show oriented responses to odours emitted by adults. We found that males oriented towards air currents carrying female odours but females did not orient towards odours emitted by adults. Finally, we observed that males oriented towards the female MG compounds. Thus, a volatile chemical signal emitted by females from their MGs promoted the activation of sheltered males and modulated orientation to air currents"
Keywords:		"Air Movements Animals Female Male Motor Activity/physiology Orientation/physiology Pheromones/*metabolism Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology Triatominae/*physiology;"
Notes:		"MedlinePontes, G Zacharias, C A Manrique, G Lorenzo, M G eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2015/04/10 Med Vet Entomol. 2014 Sep; 28(3):257-63. doi: 10.1111/mve.12040"