| Title: | Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Attraction to Human Odors: Validation of a Two-Choice Olfactometer |
| Author(s): | DeVries ZC; Saveer AM; Mick R; Schal C; |
| Address: | "Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1938-2928 (Electronic) 0022-2585 (Print) 0022-2585 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites, and, therefore, must locate suitable hosts to ensure survival and reproduction. Their largely nocturnal activity suggests that chemosensory and thermosensory cues would play critical roles in host location. Yet, the importance of olfaction in host attraction of bed bugs remains unclear. We developed and validated a Y-tube, two-choice olfactometer and tested its suitability for investigating attraction to human odors (from skin swabs). Olfactometer orientation significantly affected the percentage of bed bugs that were activated by human odors, with significantly more bed bugs responding when the olfactometer was oriented vertically (bug introduced at bottom of the olfactometer) compared with all other orientations. Starved (7-10 d) adult males, mated females, and nymphs responded (47-77% moved up the olfactometer and made a choice) when human odors were present in the olfactometer, while starved, unmated females did not respond. Skin swabs from all five human participants elicited high response rates (65-82%), and bed bugs from four different populations responded to skin swabs (40-82% response rate). However, in all assays including those resulting in relatively low response rates, bed bugs exhibited >90% preference for human odors over blank controls. These results provide strong evidence that bed bugs can respond and orient towards human odors, independently of all other host cues. Furthermore, the validated olfactometer should enable rapid and efficient evaluations of bed bug behavioral responses to semiochemicals" |
| Keywords: | Animals Appetitive Behavior *Bedbugs Female Humans Male Nymph Odorants Olfactometry/*instrumentation behavior chemotaxis host attraction host odor olfaction; |
| Notes: | "MedlineDeVries, Zachary C Saveer, Ahmed M Mick, Russell Schal, Coby eng P30 ES025128/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Validation Study England 2018/11/14 J Med Entomol. 2019 Feb 25; 56(2):362-367. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjy202" |
