Rearing triatomine bugs in the absence of a live host and some effects of diet on reproduction in Rhodnius prolixus Stål (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

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Abstract
Rhodnius prolixus Stȧl was successfully reared for three generations on a diet of defibrinated pig blood fed through Parafilm or silicone-rubber membranes. Reproduction in terms of the number and sizes of eggs produced was superior to, while survival from egg to adult was equal to that reported for, insects fed on live hosts. The technique appears equally applicable to the rearing of Panstrongylus megistus (Burm.), Triatoma infestans (Klug) and T. brasiliensis Neiva. The inadequacy of cow blood as a diet for R. prolixus was manifested in a decrease in adult size after two generations and in a reduction of egg weight from 30 to around 16 mg per female per week. This was accompanied by a corresponding reduction in egg hatch from 90 to about 50%.