Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs
Blood-sucking insects experience thermal stress at each feeding event on endothermic vertebrates. We used thermography to examine how kissing-bugs Rhodnius prolixus actively protect themselves from overheating. During feeding, these bugs sequester and dissipate the excess heat in their heads while m...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2017-11-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/26107 |
| _version_ | 1811253355497914368 |
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| author | Chloé Lahondère Teresita C Insausti Rafaela MM Paim Xiaojie Luan George Belev Marcos H Pereira Juan P Ianowski Claudio R Lazzari |
| author_facet | Chloé Lahondère Teresita C Insausti Rafaela MM Paim Xiaojie Luan George Belev Marcos H Pereira Juan P Ianowski Claudio R Lazzari |
| author_sort | Chloé Lahondère |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Blood-sucking insects experience thermal stress at each feeding event on endothermic vertebrates. We used thermography to examine how kissing-bugs Rhodnius prolixus actively protect themselves from overheating. During feeding, these bugs sequester and dissipate the excess heat in their heads while maintaining an abdominal temperature close to ambient. We employed a functional-morphological approach, combining histology, µCT and X-ray-synchrotron imaging to shed light on the way these insects manage the flow of heat across their bodies. The close alignment of the circulatory and ingestion systems, as well as other morphological characteristics, support the existence of a countercurrent heat exchanger in the head of R. prolixus, which decreases the temperature of the ingested blood before it reaches the abdomen. This kind of system has never been described before in the head of an insect. For the first time, we show that countercurrent heat exchange is associated to thermoregulation during blood-feeding. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:48:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2cd0eb7a88f3401fa55ce09c0972203f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:48:44Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-2cd0eb7a88f3401fa55ce09c0972203f2022-12-22T03:24:27ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2017-11-01610.7554/eLife.26107Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugsChloé Lahondère0Teresita C Insausti1Rafaela MM Paim2Xiaojie Luan3George Belev4Marcos H Pereira5Juan P Ianowski6Claudio R Lazzari7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3703-0302Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261 CNRS - Université François Rabelais, Tours, FranceInstitut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261 CNRS - Université François Rabelais, Tours, FranceInstituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, BrazilDepartment of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, CanadaCanadian Light Source Inc., Saskatoon, CanadaInstituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, BrazilDepartment of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, CanadaInstitut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261 CNRS - Université François Rabelais, Tours, FranceBlood-sucking insects experience thermal stress at each feeding event on endothermic vertebrates. We used thermography to examine how kissing-bugs Rhodnius prolixus actively protect themselves from overheating. During feeding, these bugs sequester and dissipate the excess heat in their heads while maintaining an abdominal temperature close to ambient. We employed a functional-morphological approach, combining histology, µCT and X-ray-synchrotron imaging to shed light on the way these insects manage the flow of heat across their bodies. The close alignment of the circulatory and ingestion systems, as well as other morphological characteristics, support the existence of a countercurrent heat exchanger in the head of R. prolixus, which decreases the temperature of the ingested blood before it reaches the abdomen. This kind of system has never been described before in the head of an insect. For the first time, we show that countercurrent heat exchange is associated to thermoregulation during blood-feeding.https://elifesciences.org/articles/26107thermoregulationhaematophagyvector biologyfunctional morphologyinsect physiologyRhodnius prolixus |
| spellingShingle | Chloé Lahondère Teresita C Insausti Rafaela MM Paim Xiaojie Luan George Belev Marcos H Pereira Juan P Ianowski Claudio R Lazzari Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs eLife thermoregulation haematophagy vector biology functional morphology insect physiology Rhodnius prolixus |
| title | Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs |
| title_full | Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs |
| title_fullStr | Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs |
| title_short | Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs |
| title_sort | countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood feeding in kissing bugs |
| topic | thermoregulation haematophagy vector biology functional morphology insect physiology Rhodnius prolixus |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/26107 |
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