Publications by authors named "David Alavez-Rosas"
Article Synopsis
- Triatomines are blood-sucking insects that spread Chagas disease, so trapping them is essential for reducing human contact and controlling the disease.
- The study tested the attraction of different triatomine species to volatiles from fermented products and commercial lures using double-choice bioassays.
- The results showed that volatiles from lactic fermentation and some fermented fruits effectively attracted triatomines, indicating their potential for disease control, while some products seemed to repel the insects.
Chagas disease is a key vector-borne disease. This illness is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas, which is transmitted by triatomine bugs. Largely, the control of this disease relies on reducing such contact.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study focuses on how aggregation occurs among triatomine bugs, which are attracted to specific signals or cues, particularly from feces of both their own and other species.
- Researchers examined the effect of volatile compounds found in the feces of the Triatoma pallidipennis species, discovering that certain short-chain aldehydes significantly attracted their nymphs.
- The most effective blend of these compounds included four particular aldehydes, suggesting potential for using these signals in pest control strategies, though their exact role as pheromones or cues is still under investigation.
Article Synopsis
- Aggregation is a behavior seen in many animals, including triatomines, which are blood-sucking bugs that transmit Chagas disease to mammals, including humans.
- Triatomines use aggregation pheromones, the specific chemical structures of which were previously unknown, to gather in hiding spots, and this research aims to identify these pheromones to reduce human contact with the bugs.
- The study discovered that triatomines produce short-chain aldehydes to attract and nitrogen-derived compounds to arrest other bugs, with variations in these compounds depending on whether the bugs were infected with the disease.
Calling males of release volatile compounds to attract conspecific males to form leks and females to mate. Male volatiles from Mexican and Brazilian populations of . have been previously identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Triatomines, known as kissing bugs, can spread Chagas disease by transmitting the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and preventing their contact with humans is crucial for controlling the disease.
- The study tested eight commercial essential oils for their effectiveness in repelling different species of kissing bugs, using an exposure device to measure how long the bugs stayed near a host.
- Results showed that a specific blend of essential oils significantly reduced the bugs' proximity to humans, suggesting potential for these natural repellents in developing new strategies for managing disease-vector insects.
Floral scents shape plant-pollinator interactions. Although populations of the same species can vary in their floral scent, little is known about how this variation affects pollinator visitation. In this study, we compare the scents emitted by buzz-pollinated (Solanaceae) in two areas of its distribution (Mexico and USA) and investigate how these differences in scent affect pollinator preferences and attraction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mahogany shoot borer, Hypsipyla grandella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is one of the most economically important pests in all American tropical forests because it prevents the establishment of monoculture plantations of the family Meliaceae, such as Spanish cedar, Cedrela odorata L. Various studies have focussed on the bioecological aspects and the chemical and silvicultural control of this pest. However, relatively little is known about the biological interactions between this insect and its host plant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevention and control programs for Ceratitis capitata require a large supply of lures and traps for use in established trapping networks and mass-trapping suppression measures. The main lures currently used are: Trimedure (TML), three-component Biolure (BL), and Ceratrap (CT). The aim of this study was to determine the release rates of these lures, the chemical composition of their volatiles, and how these parameters change with exposure time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStingless bees foraging for food improve recruitment by depositing chemical cues on valuable food sites or pheromone marks on vegetation. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and bioassays, we showed that Melipona solani foragers leave a mixture composed mostly of long chain hydrocarbons from their abdominal cuticle plus methyl oleate from the labial gland as a scent mark on rich food sites. The composition of hydrocarbons was highly variable among individuals and varied in proportions, depending on the body part.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDesign, synthesis, in vitro evaluation and preliminary SAR studies of N-(2-(heteroaryloxy)propyl)phenothiazines against Rhipicephalus microplus cattle tick.
Bioorg Med Chem Lett
July 2014
A family of 15 N-substituted phenothiazines was designed, synthesized and their acaricidal activity against Rhipicephalus microplus was determined in vitro. The synthetic methodology is simple and can be employed in multigram scale. The rationale for the structure-based design of these compounds is the potential for azines and phenothiazine to engage in π-π interactions; these fragments, joined together by a short, flexible alkoxide linker, structurally resemble phenothiazine-based cholinesterase inhibitors, while their weak basicity implies a neutral active form, rather than a cationic one, thus facilitating penetration of the cuticle of ticks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF