Attributes of oviposition substrates affect fecundity in Rhodnius prolixus

SCHILMAN, P.E.; NÚÑEZ, J.A. & LAZZARI, C.R.

JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd.

Lugar: Oxford, England; Año: 1996 vol. 42 p. 837 - 841

0022-1910

The effect of the oviposition site on eggs production was investigated in the haematophagous bug Rhodnius prolixus.  Different oviposition sites, i.e. fresh hen feather, old feather and a piece of corrugated cardboard, were offered to females in active oviposition age.  The insects showed significant differences in fecundity between treatments, being maximal in the fresh avian feather group and minimal in the cardboard (control) group.  The variations cannot be explained by differences in the amount of blood ingested neither by differences in mating frequency between groups.  The amount of blood needed per laid egg exhibited an inverse relationship with the absolute fecundity.  The dynamics of mating and egg-laying for groups having two different substrates (corrugated cardboard and hen feather) was established along one month.  After a single meal, a delay of about six days in the beginning and in the maximal oviposition time was observed in the control group, when compared with the feather one.  The lack of a feather decreased in one third the cumulative number of eggs laid in that period.  Results are discussed in relation to the mechanisms of ovarian regulation recognised at present.