Blood-sucking bug method applied to incubating adults in a tree-nesting colony of Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)

SÍLVIA NASSIF DEL LAMA; CAROLINA ISABEL MIÑO; EMMANUEL MORALEZ-SILVA; VERA LÚCIA CORTIÇO CÔRREA RODRIGUES; ELAINE DANTAS DE SOUZA

Bar Harbor

Congreso; 39th Meeting Waterbird Society; 2015

Waterbird Society

The collection of blood samples from colonially breeding birds is vital to conduct genetic studies. However, this procedure is challenging, as adults birds fly away from researchers and trapping them causes considerable disturbance and stress in the colony. The aim of this study was to test the blood-sucking bug method for the collection of blood samples from both male and female incubating adults in a natural cattle egret breeding colony. An individual of Panstrongylus megistus (Triatominae), a Neotropical hematophagous insect, was introduced into fake eggs, which were then placed inside cattle egrets nests, in a colony settled in trees, to obtain blood from incubating adults. We obtained 100 to 300 µl of blood from the abdomen of each insect. DNA was extracted from blood samples and frominsects. For all nests in which four to six trials were performed, blood was obtained from adults cattle egrets of both sexes, as determined by molecular sexing. DNA was genotyped based on six species-specific microsatellite markers. Difficulties: a) Reluctance of the adults to accept the fake eggs; b) Unwillingness of insects to fed on birds, which made necessary a greater number of trials to obtain blood samples. The bug method proved useful for sampling adults of tree-nesting colonial birds. Preliminary tests were successful in the Great egret and Snowy egret. Repeated blood samples from adults can be collectedfrom the same nests. The bug method causes far less disturbance in the colony in comparison to the trapping of birds. The bug method allows obtaining blood from socialparents to conduct parentage allocation studies in colonial waterbirds, otherwise precluded.