Aggregation behaviour in Panstrongylus megistus and Triatoma infestans: inter and intraspecific responses

PIRES, H.H.R; LORENZO, M.G; DIOTAIUTI, L; LAZZARI, C.R; LORENZO FIGUEIRAS, A.N

ACTA TROPICA

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2002 vol. 81 p. 47 - 52

0001-706X

We tested the aggregation response to inter and intraspecific chemical signals in Panstrongylus megistus and Triatoma infestans. As previously described for T.infestans, larvae of P. megistus significantly aggregated on papers impregnated with their own excrement and on papers marked with cuticular substances deposited on surfaces on which these insects had walked. T.infestans bugs also aggregated on papers impregnated by faeces or by cuticular substances of P.megistus, and P.megistus aggregated on papers contaminated by faeces or by cuticular substances of T.infestans. The response of P.megistus to its cuticular substances was significantly stronger than that to its faeces. The non-specificity of the two signals is discussed in the context of the ecological relationship between both species.