Food source orientation and activity inRhodnius prolixusStål (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

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Abstract
Locomotor activity in an actograph and oriented locomotor movements in an olfactometer were recorded for fifth-instar nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus Stål exposed to test stimuli expected to elicit food-seeking behaviour. A natural food source (hamster or human forearm) proved to be the most attractive stimulus. Warmth alone was least stimulating for long-range orientation. As with mosquitoes, carbondioxide and moisture proved to be attractive, as well as the odour of a hamster. Lactic acid did not seem to play an important role in orientation. Activation by the different stimuli was most pronounced during the scotophase of the circadian cycle. Circadian activity ran-free for two weeks in constant darkness. The results indicate that the stimuli that elicit locomotor activity in the actograph are in some way implicated in the switching of the taxis mechanisms that utilise the airstream for orientation.