Epicuticular lipids induce aggregation in Chagas disease vectors

Alicia N Lorenzo Figueiras1, Juan R Girotti, Sergio J Mijailovsky

  • 1Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata (CCT La Plata-CONICET-UNLP), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, calles 60 y 120 1 degrees piso, CP 1900, La Plata, Argentina. mjuarez@isis.unlp.edu.ar.

Parasites & Vectors
|January 29, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Triatomine bugs aggregate using contact pheromones from their epicuticular lipids. Free fatty acids, particularly octadecanoic and hexacosanoic acids, act as attractants, aiding Chagas disease vector control strategies.

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