Hunger is the best spice: Effects of starvation in the antennal responses of the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus

Blood-sucking insects strongly rely on olfactory cues to find their vertebrate hosts. As in other insects with different lifestyles, it has been shown that endogenous and exogenous factors modulate olfactory responses. The triatomine bug Rhodnius prolixus is an important vector of Chagas disease and a classical model for studies of physiology and behavior. In this species, the behavioral response to host-derived odorants is modulated by both the time of the day and the starvation. Here I investigated the peripheral neural mechanisms underlying these modulatory effects. For this, I measured the electroantennogram (EAG) responses of insects towards different concentrations (from 0.5% to 75% vol/vol) of an attractive host-odorant, ammonia. I tested the responses of starved and fed animals during the middle of the day (when insects are inactive and aggregated in refuges) and at the beginning of the night (when insects become active and search for hosts). Regardless of the time of the day and the starvation status, EAG responses systematically increased with odorant concentration, thus accurately reflecting the response of olfactory receptor cells. Interestingly, the EAG responses of starved insects were larger than those of fed insects only during the night, with larger differences (6–7 times) observed at low–middle concentrations. This study is the first reporting modulation of sensory responses at the neural level in triatomines. This modulation, considering that triatomine hosts are mostly diurnal and are also potential predators, has an important adaptive value, ensuring that insects search for hosts only when they are hungry and at appropriate times.