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Feeding responses of the horsefly, Tabanus nigrovittatus , to physical factors, ATP analogues and blood fractions
Author(s) -
FRIEND W. G.,
STOFFOLANO J. G.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1984.tb00780.x
Subject(s) - biology , arthropod mouthparts , saline , receptor , blood plasma , membrane , biochemistry , medicine , endocrinology , ecology
. Wild‐caught female horseflies, Tabanus nigrovittatus Macq. (Diptera: Tabanidae), were presented solutions of seven analogues of ATP in 0.15 m NaCl, or various blood fractions, either as free liquids at 22 or 38d̀C or covered with a Parafilm M membrane at 38d̀C. Warming the diet, so that it can stimulate the insects' heat receptors, or presenting it warmed and covered with a membrane, which the flies can pierce and thus deploy their mouthparts as they would when blood‐feeding, enhances the response to gorging stimulants. ADP (ED 50 45 μM) was the most potent chemical phagostimulant. There were no significant differences between the potencies of AMP, A(TETRA)P, AMP‐PCP, AMP‐PNP or AMP‐S, which were 3.5‐5 times less potent than ADP. Cyclic AMP had no phagostimulatory activity at concentrations of 400 or 1000 μM. The ED 50 for washed red blood cells (RBC) in saline was 4.5% (one tenth the concentration found in blood). RBC‐free plasma caused only 10% gorging but plasma with 0.5% RBC caused 61% gorging, indicating synergism between RBC and plasma.