| Author | Ferreira, Raquel Aparecida | |
| Author | Lazzari, Claudio R. | |
| Author | Lorenzo, Marcelo Gustavo | |
| Author | Pereira, Marcos Horacio | |
| Access date | 2013-06-21T14:52:50Z | |
| Available date | 2013-06-21T14:52:50Z | |
| Document date | 2007 | |
| Citation | FERREIRA, Raquel Aparecida et al. Do Haematophagous Bugs Assess Skin Surface Temperature to Detect Blood Vessels?. PLoS ONE 2(9): e932 | pt_BR |
| ISSN | 49 - 1932-6203 | |
| URI | https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/6609 | |
| Sponsorship | CPqRR/FIOCRUZ, FAPEMIG, CAPES, CNPq and
FAPEBIO/UFMG, CNRS and Universite´ Franc¸ ois Rabelais. | pt_BR |
| Language | eng | pt_BR |
| Rights | open access | pt_BR |
| Title | Do Haematophagous Bugs Assess Skin SurfaceTemperature to Detect Blood Vessels? | pt_BR |
| Type | Article | pt_BR |
| DOI | doi:10.1371/journal.pone.00009 | |
| Abstract | Background.It is known that some blood-sucking insects have the ability to reach vessels under the host skin with their mouthparts to feed blood from inside them. However, the process by which they locate these vessels remains largely unknown. Less than 5% of the skin is occupied by blood vessels and thus, it is not likely that insects rely on a ‘‘random search strategy’’, since it would increase the probability of being killed by their hosts. Indeed, heterogeneities along the skin surface might offer exploitable information for guiding insect’s bites.Methodology/Principal Findings.We tested whether the bug Rhodnius prolixuscan evaluate temperature discontinuities along the body surface in order to locate vessels before piercing the host skin. When placed over a rabbit ear, the bug’s first bites were mostly directed towards the main vessels. When insects were confronted to artificial linear heat sources presenting a temperature gradient against the background, most bites were directly addressed to the warmer linear source, notwithstanding the temperature of both, the source and the background.
Finally, tests performed using uni- and bilaterally antennectomized insects revealed that the bilateral integration of thermal inputs from both antennae is necessary for precisely directing bites. Conclusions/Significance.R. prolixusmay be able to exploit the temperature differences observed over the skin surface to locate blood vessles. Bugs bite the warmest targets regardless of the target/background temperatures, suggesting that they do not bite choosing a preferred temperature, but select temperature discontinuities along the skin. This strategy seems to be an efficient one for finding blood vessels within a wide temperature range, allowing finding them on different hosts, as well as on different areas of the host body. Our study also adds new insight about the use of antennal thermal inputs by blood sucking bugs. | pt_BR |
| Affilliation | Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Triatomíneos e Epidemiologia da Doença de Chagas. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil | pt_BR |
| Affilliation | Université François Rabelais. Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte. Tours, France | pt_BR |
| Affilliation | Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Triatomíneos e Epidemiologia da Doença de Chagas. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil | pt_BR |
| Affilliation | Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Laboratório de Fisiologia de Insetos Hematófagos. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil | pt_BR |
