| Title: | Tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans morsitans) choose birthing sites guided by substrate cues with no evidence for a role of pheromones |
| Author(s): | Adden AK; Haines LR; Acosta-Serrano A; Prieto-Godino LL; |
| Address: | "Neural Circuits and Evolution Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK. Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1471-2954 (Electronic) 0962-8452 (Print) 0962-8452 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Tsetse flies significantly impact public health and economic development in sub-Saharan African countries by transmitting the fatal disease African trypanosomiasis. Unusually, instead of laying eggs, tsetse birth a single larva that immediately burrows into the soil to pupate. Where the female chooses to larviposit is, therefore, crucial for offspring survival. Previous laboratory studies suggested that a putative larval pheromone, n-pentadecane, attracts gravid female Glossina morsitans morsitans to appropriate larviposition sites. However, this attraction could not be reproduced in field experiments. Here, we resolve this disparity by designing naturalistic laboratory experiments that closely mimic the physical characteristics found in the wild. We show that gravid G. m. morsitans were neither attracted to the putative pheromone nor, interestingly, to pupae placed in the soil. By contrast, females appear to choose larviposition sites based on environmental substrate cues. We conclude that, among the many cues that likely contribute to larviposition choice in nature, substrate features are a main determinant, while we failed to find evidence for a role of pheromones" |
| Keywords: | Animals Female Pregnancy *Tsetse Flies Pheromones Cues Parturition Larva Glossina morsitans behaviour ecology maternal care pheromone tsetse; |
| Notes: | "MedlineAdden, Andrea K Haines, Lee R Acosta-Serrano, Alvaro Prieto-Godino, Lucia L eng 204806/Z/16/Z/WT_/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2023/05/01 Proc Biol Sci. 2023 Apr 26; 290(1997):20230030. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0030. Epub 2023 Apr 26" |
