Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T03:08:28.205Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Techniques for routine and large-scale rearing of Rhodnius prolixus Stål (Hem., Reduviidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

B. O. C. Gardiner  and
S. H. P. Maddrell
B. O. C. Gardiner
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Unit of Invertebrate Chemistry and Physiology, Department of Zoology, Downing Street. Cambridge
S. H. P. Maddrell
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Unit of Invertebrate Chemistry and Physiology, Department of Zoology, Downing Street. Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An improved technique for small-scale rearing of Rhodnius prolixus Stal on rabbits is described. For feeding, the bugs are presented in tubes closed with silk to the shaved stomachs of rabbits; between feeds the bugs are held in 1-lb glass jars at 28°C. Large-scale rearing by this method was precluded by the amount of handling required. Feeding on defibrinated blood resulted in a survival rate to the adult stage of less than 10%, but sheep on which up to 6 600 fourth instar could be fed weekly proved satisfactory hosts, although they had to be replaced after 1–9 weeks as they developed a resistance which prevented the bugs feeding. A large-scale rearing technique is described in which instars 2–5 are presented to sheep in wire cages covered with nylon netting while instar 1 and adults are fed on rabbits; between feeds the bugs are housed in 3½–7-lb glass jars or in net-covered cages. A production of 4 000 fed fourth instar or larger bugs per week for 18 months was achieved, sometimes reaching 7 000 per week.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , February 1972 , pp. 505 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Buxton, P. A. (1930). The biology of a blood-sucking bug, Rhodnius prolixus.—Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 78, 227–236.Google Scholar
Friend, W. G. (1965). The gorging response in Rhodnius prolixus Ståhl.—Can. I. Zool. 43, 125–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harjngton, J. S. (1960). A simple apparatus for the artificial feeding of Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae).—Parasitology 50, 273–277.Google Scholar
Maddrell, S. H. P. (1962). The regulation of excretion in Rhodnius prolixus Ståhl.—Ph.D. Thesis, 44–45. Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Maddrell, S. H. P. (1964). Excretion in the blood-sucking bug, Rhodnius prolixus Ståhl. II. The normal course of diuresis and the effect of temperature.—J. exp. Biol. 41, 163–176.Google Scholar
Nash, T. A. M., Jordan, A. M. & Boyle, J. A. (1966). The large-scale rearing of Glossina austeni (Newst.) in the laboratory. III-Confirmation of the value of pregnant goats as hosts.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 60, 469–481.Google Scholar
Nash, T. A. M., Jordon, A. M. & Boyle, J. A. (1968). The large-scale rearing of Glossina austeni (Newst.) in the laboratory. IV.—The final technique.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 62, 336–341.Google Scholar
Nash, T. A. M., Kernaghan, R. J. & Wright, A. I. (1965). A method for the prevention of skin reactions in goats used for feeding tsetse flies, Glossina spp.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 59, 88–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryckman, R. E. & Ryceman, A. E. (1966).—Reduviid bugs In Smith, C. N.Ed. Insect colonization and mass production, 183–200. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar