Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:58:23.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rearing triatomine bugs in the absence of a live host and some effects of diet on reproduction in Rhodnius prolixus Stål (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

P. A. Langley  and
R. W. Pimley
P. A. Langley
Affiliation:
Tsetse Research Laboratory, University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science, Lan gford, Bristol BS18 7DU, UK.
R. W. Pimley
Affiliation:
Tsetse Research Laboratory, University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science, Lan gford, Bristol BS18 7DU, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Rhodnius prolixus Stȧl was successfully reared for three generations on a diet of defibrinated pig blood fed through Parafilm or silicone-rubber membranes. Reproduction in terms of the number and sizes of eggs produced was superior to, while survival from egg to adult was equal to that reported for, insects fed on live hosts. The technique appears equally applicable to the rearing of Panstrongylus megistus (Burm.), Triatoma infestans (Klug) and T. brasiliensis Neiva. The inadequacy of cow blood as a diet for R. prolixus was manifested in a decrease in adult size after two generations and in a reduction of egg weight from 30 to around 16 mg per female per week. This was accompanied by a corresponding reduction in egg hatch from 90 to about 50%.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , July 1978 , pp. 243 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bauer, B. & Wetzel, H. (1976). A new membrane for feeding Glossina morsitans Westw. (Diptera, Glossinidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 65, 563–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friend, W. G., Choy, C. T. H. & Cartwright, E. (1965). The effect of nutrient intake on the development and the egg production of Rhodnius prolixus Stahl (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).—Can. J. Zool. 43, 891–904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardiner, B. O. C. & Maddrell, S. H. P. (1972). Techniques for routine and large-scale rearing of Rhodnius prolixus Stȧl (Hem., Reduviidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 61, 505–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, P. & Campbell, J. A. (1975). Improved rearing of symbiont-free and infected Rhodnius prolixus using rabbit-ear warmers and simple microbiological isolators.—Laboratory Practice 24, 746–747.Google ScholarPubMed
Langley, P. A. & Pimley, R. W. (1975). Quantitative aspects of reproduction and larval nutrition in Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. (Diptera, Glossinidae) fed in vitro.—Bull. ent. Res. 65, 129–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGuire, E. J., Habowsky, J. E. J., Lumb, G. & De La Iglesia, F. A. (1973). An experimental approach to the study of drugs in invertebrate systems. I. Mass feeding of Rhodnius prolixus Stahl (Hemiptera, Reduviidae).—Can. J. Zool. 51, 315–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mews, A. R., Baumgartner, H., Luger, D. & Offori, E. D. (1976). Colonisation of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. (Diptera, Glossinidae) in the laboratory using in vitro feeding techniques.—Bull. ent. Res. 65, 631–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mews, A. R., Langley, P. A., Pimley, R. W. & FLOOD, M. E. T. (1977). Large-scale rearing of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) in the absence of a living host.—Bull. ent. Res. 67, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perlowagora-Szumlewicz, A. (1973). Species and stage interaction in the feeding behaviour of vectors of Chagas disease (the importance of determinants in planning for greater efficacy and standardization of xenodiagnostic procedures).—Revta Inst. Med. trop. S. Paulo 15, 139–150.Google ScholarPubMed
Ryckman, R. E. & Ryckman, A. E. (1967). Reduviid bugs, pp. 183–200in Smith, C. N. (Ed.). Insect colonization and mass production.—618 pp. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar