Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T02:17:52.048Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fecundity-reducing pheromone in Argas (Persicargas) arboreus (Ixodoidea: Argasidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Galila M. Khalil
Galila M. Khalil
Affiliation:
Medical Zoology Department, United States Naval Medical Research Unit Number Three (NAMRU-3), American Embassy, Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Fed adult Argas (Persicargas) arboreus produce a fecundity-reducing pheromone which affects all or most females in crowded conditions. Unfed adults and unfed and fed nymphs do not produce this pheromone. The effect of this pheromone is probably additive, increasing with additional crowding of adults. Mechanical disturbance is excluded as the cause of fecundity reduction. Fed females separated by a perforated barrier from crowded adults also exhibit very low fecundity. Adult excretory materials used 31 days post-feeding do not contain the fecundity-reducing pheromone. Preliminary experiments suggest that this pheromone is spatially limited in action, does not affect gonadotropic hormone synthesis and/or release, and does not induce oviposition deterrence behaviour. This may be considered to be a primer pheromone, causing alteration in normal vitellogenin synthesis and/or uptake and deposition in oocytes. The source and chemical nature of this pheromone should be investigated.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , June 1984 , pp. 395 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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

Blum, M. S. (1970). The chemical basis of insect sociality. In Chemicals Controlling Insect Behavior (ed. Beroza, M.), pp. 61–94. New York and London: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, B. S. (1977). Behavioral responses of Diptera to pheromones, allomones and kairomones. In Chemical Control of Insect Behavior. Theory and Application (ed. Shorey, H. H. and McKelvey, J. J. Jr.), pp. 129–148. New York, London, Sydney and Toronto: John Willey & Sons.Google Scholar
Flint, H. M., Smith, R. L., Pomonis, J. G., Forey, D. E. & Horn, B. R. (1977). Phenylacetaldehyde: oviposition inhibitor for the pink bollworm. Journal of Economic Entomology 70, 547–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafez, M., Abdel-Malek, A. A. & Guirgis, S. S. (1972). The subgenus Persicargas (Ixodoidea, Argasidae, Argas). 14. Biological studies on the adult stage of A. (P.) arboreus Kaiser, Hoogstraal & Kohls in Egypt. Journal of Medical Entomology 9, 19–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagedorn, H. H. & Kunkel, J. G. (1979). Vitellogenin and vitellin in insects. Annual Review of Entomology 24, 475–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalil, G. M. (1974). The subgenus Persicargas (Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Argas). 19. Preliminary studies on diapause in A. (P.) arboreus Kaiser, Hoogstraal & Kohls. Journal of Medical Entomology 11, 363–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalil, G. M. (1979). Crowding effect on fecundity of Argas (Persicargas) arboreus (Ixodoidea: Argasidae). Journal of Parasitology 65, 321–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leahy, M. G. Sister (1979). Pheromones of argasid ticks. In Recent Advances in Acarology, vol. 2, (ed. Rodriguez, R. G.) pp. 297–308. New York and London: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leahy, M. G. Sister, Karuhize, G., Mango, C. & Galun, R. (1975). An assembly pheromone and its perception in the tick Ornithodoros moubata (Murray) (Acari: Argasidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 12, 284–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leahy, M. G. Sister, Vandehey, R. & Galun, R. (1973). Assembly pheromone(s) in the soft tick Argas persicus (Oken). Nature, London 246, 515–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lüscher, M. (1961). Social control of polymorphism in termites. Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society, London 1, 57–67.Google Scholar
Naylor, A. F. (1959). An experimental analysis of dispersal in the flour beetle, Tribolium confusum. Ecology 40, 453–65.Google Scholar
Odum, E. P. (1971). Fundamentals of Ecology, 3rd edn, 574 pp. Philadelphia, London and Toronto: W. B. Saunders Company.Google Scholar
Schlein, Y. & Gunders, A. E. (1981). Pheromone of Ornithodoros spp. (Argasidae) in the coxal fluid of female ticks. Parasitology 82, 467–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanbaky, N. M. & Khalil, G. M. (1975). The subgenus Persicargas (Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Argas). 22. The effect of feeding on hormonal control of egg development in A. (P.) arboreus. Experimental Parasitology 37, 361–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonenshine, D. E., Silverstein, R. M. & Homsher, P. J. (1979). Female-produced pheromones of the Ixodidae. In Recent Advances in Acarology, vol. 2 (ed. Rodriguez, R. G.), pp. 281–290. New York and London: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vasil'eva, I. S. & Ershova, A. S. (1980). Effect of Ornithodoros papillipes (Argasidae) tick population density on oviposition in experimental conditions (in Russian). Parazitologiya Leningrad 14, 392–7. (In English: NAMRU-3, T-1515.)Google ScholarPubMed