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Sasínková M, Křemenová J, Chajma P, Bartonička T, Massino C, Otti O, Balvín O. Changes in body size and fertility due to artificial and natural feeding of laboratory common bed bugs (Heteroptera: Cimicidae). JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2024; 61:34-45. [PMID: 37889860 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjad083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Rearing common bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) and other hematophagous insects is essential for basic, medical, and pest-control research. Logistically, acquiring fresh blood can be a challenge, while biologically, the eventual effects of different rearing and blood preparation protocols on bed bug genotype and phenotype pose a risk of biased research results. Using bed bug populations that are either bat- (BL) or human-related (HL), we tested the short- and long-term effects of rearing bugs on live bats or human volunteers, or artificially on CPDA (citrate phosphate dextrose, adenine)-treated blood, measuring meal size, body size, and fertility. We found that artificial feeding did not affect meal size compared with feeding on natural hosts. Long-term rearing across many generations of HL on CPDA-preserved blood led to reduced body size and fertility compared with populations reared on human volunteers. Blood preservatives increased the proportion of sterile eggs even after a single feed. Finally, our results indicated that laboratory reared bed bugs were smaller, regardless of the blood source, than wild bugs. Similar effects of artificial feeding or laboratory rearing alone should be considered in future studies using bed bug cultures to choose an appropriate rearing protocol. With regard to switching between bat and human hosts, HL took smaller meals and BL had lower fertility when fed on bats than when fed on humans. We attribute these results to methodological constrains, specifically the inconsistency of bat feeding, rather than to host specialization. Nevertheless, BL can be easily reared using human blood and artificial feeding systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markéta Sasínková
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Křemenová
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Chajma
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Bartonička
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Christian Massino
- Applied Zoology, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Oliver Otti
- Animal Population Ecology, Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Ondřej Balvín
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Sasínková M, Balvín O, Vandrovcová J, Massino C, Weig AR, Reinhardt K, Otti O, Bartonička T. Despite genetic isolation in sympatry, post-copulatory reproductive barriers have not evolved between bat- and human-associated common bedbugs (Cimex lectularius L.). Front Zool 2023; 20:36. [PMID: 37950221 PMCID: PMC10636883 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-023-00514-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The common bedbug Cimex lectularius is a widespread ectoparasite on humans and bats. Two genetically isolated lineages, parasitizing either human (HL) or bat (BL) hosts, have been suggested to differentiate because of their distinct ecology. The distribution range of BL is within that of HL and bedbugs live mostly on synanthropic bat hosts. This sympatric co-occurrence predicts strong reproductive isolation at the post-copulatory level. RESULTS We tested the post-copulatory barrier in three BL and three HL populations in reciprocal crosses, using a common-garden blood diet that was novel to both lineages. We excluded pre-copulation isolation mechanisms and studied egg-laying rates after a single mating until the depletion of sperm, and the fitness of the resulting offspring. We found a higher sperm storage capability in BL, likely reflecting the different seasonal availability of HL and BL hosts. We also observed a notable variation in sperm function at the population level within lineages and significant differences in fecundity and offspring fitness between lineages. However, no difference in egg numbers or offspring fitness was observed between within- and between-lineage crosses. CONCLUSIONS Differences in sperm storage or egg-laying rates between HL and BL that we found did not affect reproductive isolation. Neither did the population-specific variation in sperm function. Overall, our results show no post-copulatory reproductive isolation between the lineages. How genetic differentiation in sympatry is maintained in the absence of a post-copulatory barrier between BL and HL remains to be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markéta Sasínková
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Balvín
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Vandrovcová
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Christian Massino
- Applied Zoology, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - Alfons R Weig
- Genomics and Bioinformatics, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Klaus Reinhardt
- Applied Zoology, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - Oliver Otti
- Applied Zoology, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
- Animal Population Ecology, Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Tomáš Bartonička
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic.
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Hickin ML, Kakumanu ML, Schal C. Effects of Wolbachia elimination and B-vitamin supplementation on bed bug development and reproduction. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10270. [PMID: 35715692 PMCID: PMC9205976 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14505-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Obligate blood feeders, such as Cimex lectularius (common bed bug), have symbiotic associations with nutritional endosymbionts that produce B-vitamins. To quantify the symbiont's contribution to host fitness in these obligate mutualisms, the symbiont must be eliminated and its absence rigorously confirmed. We developed and validated procedures for complete elimination of Wolbachia (Wb) in bed bugs and quantified development and reproduction in bed bugs with and without Wb and with and without B-vitamins supplementation. Aposymbiotic bed bugs had slower nymphal development, reduced adult survivorship, smaller adult size, fewer eggs per female, and lower hatch rate than bed bugs that harbored Wb. In aposymbiotic bed bugs that were fed B-vitamins-supplemented blood, nymph development time, adult survivorship and hatch rate recovered to control levels, but adult size and egg number only partially recovered. These results underscore the nutritional dependence of bed bugs on their Wb symbiont and suggest that Wb may provide additional nutritional benefits beyond the B-vitamin mix that we investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauri L Hickin
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
| | - Madhavi L Kakumanu
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Coby Schal
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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