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Smelling your way to food: can bed bugs use our odour?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  22279069     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Data-Review    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The resurgence in developed countries of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, has led to a search for new sustainable methods to monitor and control this human ectoparasite. Because of increased resistance to insecticides, traps baited with attractive cues are considered a promising method to be developed into efficient monitoring tools for bed bugs. Despite their potential as attractants, only a few studies have investigated the odorant cues implicated in the attraction of bed bugs to human hosts. In this study, we used aeration extracts from human volunteers to assess the role of olfaction in host searching by bed bugs. By coupled gas chromatography and single sensillum recordings on all the antennal sensilla, we measured the electrophysiological response elicited by the compounds present in our human odour extracts. Only five compounds were clearly detected by the olfactory receptor neurons housed in the smooth-peg sensilla of the bed bugs. We tested the behavioural effect of these extracts in a still-air arena and showed a gradient of repellence linked to the dose, as well as a higher propensity of local search behaviour associated with human odours containing a lower ratio of 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one to C(7)-C(10) aldehydes. We conclude that human odour alone has a weak influence on the behaviour of C. lectularius and we propose that human kairomones may have a significant impact on bed bug behaviour in combination with heat and carbon dioxide, the only two currently known attractive vertebrate cues used by bed bugs for host seeking.
Authors:
V Harraca; C Ryne; G Birgersson; R Ignell
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The Journal of experimental biology     Volume:  215     ISSN:  1477-9145     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Exp. Biol.     Publication Date:  2012 Feb 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2012-01-26     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0243705     Medline TA:  J Exp Biol     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  623-9     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Division of Chemical Ecology, Department of Ecology, Ecology Building, Lund University, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
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