Abstract
Pyrethroids are synthetic insecticides that have a repellent action. This effect has been associated with an increase in the locomotor activity, which causes the avoidance of the insecticide-treated area (excito-repellency). In this work, we studied with behavior and electrophysiological recordings the occurrence of olfactory-mediated repellency caused by pyrethroids of different volatility in the German cockroach Blattella germanica (Linnaeus, 1767). Male cockroaches were spatially repelled when they were exposed to d-allethrin vapors and vapothrin vapors in a dose-dependent manner. No repellency was observed when insects were exposed to permethrin, a non-volatile pyrethroid. To confirm the role of olfaction in this phenomenon, we measured the electrical activity of the cockroaches’ antennae in response to these insecticides. There was a significant increase in the electrical activity in response to d-allethrin and vapothrin, but no increase was observed in insects exposed to permethrin. Locomotor activity of cockroaches exposed to pyrethroids was measured in order to discard excito-repellency. No changes in locomotor activity were observed for any of the insecticides. Finally, we found that volatile pyrethroids in the vapor phase cause spatial repellency in cockroaches, being the first report of an olfactory-mediated repellency phenomenon caused by pyrethroids in cockroaches.
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Authors’ Contribution Statement
EB contributed with the experimental work, data analysis, and interpretation of data. PAG provided the theoretical base of EAG. VS contributed with the work design, drafted, and revised the work and finally helped with the interpretation of the data. All authors approved the version considered for publication.
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The financial support for this research was given by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Argentina (PICT 2017-1512).
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Boné, E., González-Audino, P.A. & Sfara, V. Spatial Repellency Caused by Volatile Pyrethroids is Olfactory-Mediated in the German Cockroach Blattella germanica (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae). Neotrop Entomol 49, 275–283 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-019-00739-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-019-00739-9