The role of the blood meal in egg-laying periodicity and fecundity in Triatoma infestans

The number of eggs produced by Triatoma infestans is determined by the amount of blood ingested; the formation of one egg requires 16 mg blood. An exogenous supply of juvenile hormone, provided by the implantation of extra corpora aliata, increases egg production per unit of blood ingested. The corpus allatum is therefore implicated in the relationship between nutrition and fecundity. The rhythm of egg production is regulated by the nutritional state of the adult female: when the females are fed at frequent intervals, egg production becomes regular and continuous. This calls into question previous interpretations of egg-laying rhythms in the Triatominae as cyclic.