Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Fixed Action Patterns

Fixed Action Patterns

A fixed action pattern (FAP) is a specific, hard-wired sequence of behaviors that occurs in response to an external stimulus, called a sign stimulus. The behavior is “fixed” because it is essentially unchangeable—proceeding similarly across individuals of a species every time it occurs.

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.Although predation is commonly associated with carnivory, for...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Aversive sexual learning in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus: Modulation of different sexual responses in males and females.

Journal of insect physiology·2024

Same author

The pharyngeal taste organ of a blood-feeding insect functions in food recognition.

BMC biology·2024

Same author

Threatening stimuli elicit a sequential cardiac pattern in arthropods.

iScience·2024

Same author

Shelter selection in the kissing bugs Triatoma infestans and Rhodnius prolixus: Intra- and inter-specific interactions and quality evaluation.

Medical and veterinary entomology·2022

Same author

Molecular and functional basis of high-salt avoidance in a blood-sucking insect.

iScience·2022

Same author

Obesity modifies the implantation window and disrupts intrauterine embryo positioning in rats.

Reproduction (Cambridge, England)·2021

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Individual Culturing of Tigriopus Copepods and Quantitative Analysis of Their Mate-guarding Behavior

Individual Culturing of Tigriopus Copepods and Quantitative Analysis of Their Mate-guarding Behavior

Published on: September 26, 2018

Visually-guided defensive behaviors in triatomines (Heteroptera: Reduviidae).

Tomás Manuel Chialina¹, Benjamín Leonel Vidal², Sebastián A Minoli³

¹Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428EGA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428EGA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Journal of Insect Physiology

|July 23, 2025

Summary

Kissing bugs use vision for defense, rapidly switching between freezing and escaping in response to looming stimuli. Their visual system evaluates risk, demonstrating a flexible defense mechanism against predators.

Keywords:

Defensive behavior Escape Freezing Risk Triatomines Visual behavior

More Related Videos

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

Drosophila Passive Avoidance Behavior as a New Paradigm to Study Associative Aversive Learning

Drosophila Passive Avoidance Behavior as a New Paradigm to Study Associative Aversive Learning

Published on: October 15, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Individual Culturing of Tigriopus Copepods and Quantitative Analysis of Their Mate-guarding Behavior

Individual Culturing of Tigriopus Copepods and Quantitative Analysis of Their Mate-guarding Behavior

Published on: September 26, 2018

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

Drosophila Passive Avoidance Behavior as a New Paradigm to Study Associative Aversive Learning

Drosophila Passive Avoidance Behavior as a New Paradigm to Study Associative Aversive Learning

Published on: October 15, 2021

Area of Science:

Insect behavior
Visual ecology
Neuroethology

Background:

Reduviidae, encompassing assassin bugs and kissing bugs, possess compound eyes.
Image vision is linked to feeding in assassin bugs, but its role in kissing bug defense is unstudied.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the role of vision in supporting defensive behaviors in kissing bugs.
Determine how visual stimuli influence freezing and escape responses in Rhodnius prolixus.

Main Methods:

Exposed Rhodnius prolixus to visual looming stimuli with varying dynamics and contrast.
Assessed responses such as freezing and escaping.
Evaluated habituation by presenting repeated stimuli with short intervals.

Main Results:

Rhodnius prolixus consistently exhibited freezing or escaping in response to visual looming stimuli.
Escape responses were triggered by stimuli mimicking predator approach at sustained velocity.
Freezing occurred regardless of contrast, while escape required high contrast.
No habituation was observed after repeated stimulation.

Conclusions:

The visual system plays a significant role in kissing bug defense.
Defensive responses are fast, flexible, and dependent on stimulus information and perceived risk.
Kissing bug visual defenses are comparable to those in highly visual arthropods.