Chemical Senses Vol. 29 No. 9 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
Orientation Behaviour of the Blood-sucking Bug Triatoma infestans to Short-chain Fatty Acids: Synergistic Effect of L-Lactic Acid and Carbon Dioxide
1 Laboratorio de Fisiología de Insectos, Departamento Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina and 2 Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte, UMR-CNRS 6035, Université François Rabelais, Avenue Monge, Parc Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France
Correspondence to be sent to: Romina B. Barrozo, Laboratorio de Fisiología de Insectos, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 4to Piso, (C1428EHA) Buenos Aires, Argentina. e-mail: rbarrozo{at}bg.fcen.uba.ar
The role of short-chain fatty acids in the host-seeking behaviour of Triatoma infestans larvae was investigated using a locomotion compensator. Several short-chain fatty acids were tested alone over a wide range of doses, or in combination with L-lactic acid (L-LA; 100 µg). Bugs showed no attractive response to single carboxylic acids, but when L-LA was added to airstreams carrying specific intensities of either propionic (C3; 100 µg), butyric (C4; 1 µg) or valeric acid (C5; 1 µg), these mixtures elicited an attractive response, evincing a synergistic effect. No orientation response was observed when caproic acid (C6) was offered with L-LA at the doses tested. Two blends were created: (1) C3, C4 and C5 combined at the effective doses when added with L-LA [C3C4C5 (1)], and (2) C3, C4 and C5 combined at a third of those intensities [C3C4C5 (2)]. Both blends were tested alone, with L-LA (100 µg), with a sub-threshold concentration of CO2 (300 p.p.m. above the ambient level), and combined with both compounds together. Oriented responses of bugs were only observed with the blend (2) added with L-LA and with the combination of this lure with CO2. This last combination evoked a behavioural response similar in intensity to that induced by a live mouse.
Key words: carbon dioxide, host orientation, L-lactic acid, short-chain fatty acids, synergism, Triatoma infestans
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