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 strongmore »
Mating and starvation modulate feeding and host-seeking responses in female bed bugs, Cimex lectularius
Reproductive fitness and survival are enhanced by adaptive behaviors that are modulated by internal physiological states and external social contexts. The common bed bug,
- Award ID(s):
- 1754190
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10210699
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Insect societies vary greatly in their social structure, mating biology, and life history. Polygyny, the presence of multiple reproductive queens in a single colony, and polyandry, multiple mating by females, both increase the genetic variability in colonies of eusocial organisms, resulting in potential reproductive conflicts. The co-occurrence of polygyny and polyandry in a single species is rarely observed across eusocial insects, and these traits have been found to be negatively correlated in ants.
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