Triatoma bugs

Dimethylquinazoline is from Triatoma bugs which carry trypanosomiasis parasites, and indole and skatole are evil-smelling compounds found as trail pheromones in ants and defensive secretion of caddis flies (Trichoptera). Methyl anthranilate has been found in the mandibular gland of males of the ant Camponotus nearticus, and is one component of the trail pheromone (with methyl nicotinate) of the ant Aenictus rotundatus. 

Taneja J. and Guerin P. M. (1997) Ammonia attracts the haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans behavioural and neurophysiologica data on nymphs. J. Comp. Physiol. A 181, 21-34. 

Chaga s disease or American trypanosomiasis is caused by the invasion of the blood and tissues by the trypanosome T. cruzi. The trypanosomes inhabit the blood circulation, while their leishmanial forms reside in the tissues. The main victims of this disease are children and young adults. Transmission of Chaga s disease takes place through the kissing bugs, Triatoma spp. 

T. cruzi is the agent that causes American trypanosomiasis. American trypanosomiasis is transmitted by a number of species of a reduviid bug (Triatoma infestans, Rhodrium prolixus) that live in wall cracks of houses in rural areas of North, Central, and South America. 

BARROZO, R.B., LAZZARI, C.R., The response of the blood-sucking bug Triatoma infestans to carbon dioxide and other host odours. Chem. Sens., 2004, 29, 319-329. 

Thaumetopoea pityocampa Pine processionary Lepidoptera Thaumetopoeidae Triatoma infestans Kissing bug Hemiptera Reduviidae Triatominae Tribolium castaneum Red our beetle Coleoptera Tenebrionldae Tribolium confusum Confused our beetle Coleoptera Tenebrionldae Tyrophagus putrescentiae Mold mite... 

Guerenstein, P. G. and P. M. Guerin, Olfactory and behavioural responses of the blood-sucking bug Triatoma infestans to odours of vertebrate hosts. J Exp Biol, 2001. 204(Pt 3) 585-597. 

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