Rodríguez Claudia, Lobbia Patricia, Nattero Julieta, Catalá Silvia, Crocco Liliana
Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Centro de Referencias de Vectores, Pabellón Rawson, Hospital Colonia de Santa María de Punilla, Santa María de Punilla, Córdoba, Argentina.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2014 Jul;47(4):430-6. doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0111-2014.
In Triatominae, reproductive efficiency is an important factor influencing population dynamics, and a useful parameter in measuring a species' epidemiological significance as a vector of Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909). The reproductive efficiency of triatomines is affected by food availability; hence, we measured and compared the effects of feeding frequency on the reproductive parameters of Triatoma patagonica (Del Ponte, 1929) and Triatoma infestans (Klug, 1934), and the effects of starvation on T. patagonica.
Couples from both species were fed weekly, or every 3 weeks; in addition, females in couples of T. patagonica were not fed. Each couple was observed weekly and reproductive efficiency was assessed on the following parameters: fecundity (eggs/female), fertility (eggs hatched/eggs laid), initiation and end of oviposition, initiation of mating, number of matings/week, and number of reproductive weeks. Relative meal size index (RMS), blood consumption index (CI), and E values (eggs/mg blood) were also calculated.
Changes in feeding frequency affected the reproductive parameters of T. patagonica only, with a decrease in fecundity and number of reproductive weeks for those fed every 3 weeks, or not fed. The reproductive period, RMS index, and CI were lower for T. patagonica than T. infestans. However, despite the lower fecundity of T. patagonica, this species required less blood to produce eggs, with an E values of 2 compared to 2.94 for T. infestans.
Our results suggest that the differences in fecundity observed between species reflect the availability of food in their natural ecotopes.
在锥蝽亚科昆虫中，繁殖效率是影响种群动态的重要因素，也是衡量一个物种作为克氏锥虫（查加斯，1909年）传播媒介的流行病学意义的一个有用参数。锥蝽的繁殖效率受食物供应的影响；因此，我们测量并比较了喂食频率对巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽（德尔蓬特，1929年）和大劣按蚊（克卢格，1934年）繁殖参数的影响，以及饥饿对巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽的影响。
两种锥蝽的配对个体每周或每3周喂食一次；此外，巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽配对个体中的雌性不喂食。每周观察每对锥蝽，并根据以下参数评估繁殖效率：繁殖力（卵数/雌性）、生育力（孵化卵数/产卵数）、产卵开始和结束时间、交配开始时间、每周交配次数以及繁殖周数。还计算了相对食量指数（RMS）、血液消耗指数（CI）和E值（卵数/毫克血液）。
喂食频率的变化仅影响巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽的繁殖参数，每3周喂食一次或不喂食的个体繁殖力和繁殖周数减少。巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽的繁殖期、RMS指数和CI低于大劣按蚊。然而，尽管巴塔戈尼亚锥蝽的繁殖力较低，但该物种产卵所需的血液较少，E值为2，而大劣按蚊为2.94。
我们的结果表明，不同物种之间观察到的繁殖力差异反映了它们自然生态环境中食物的可获得性。
