Oxygen consumption and egg production in the blood feeding insect Rhodnius prolixus

Summary

Resting O₂ consumption as measured by respirometry rises sharply immediately after feeding in females of Rhodnius prolixus and undergoes a slow decline after about the fourth day, returning to pre-feed levels by the tenth or twelfth day after feeding. The O₂ consumption of mated females remains slightly higher than that of virgin females during the period of egg production. Thus, virgin females, earlier shown to produce fewer eggs from a blood meal of equivalent size without gaining weight, do not maintain their weight by an elevated resting metabolism. The O₂ consumption of ovariectomized females, while not reaching the same level as normal females, exhibits the same sharp increase after feeding, but that increase is absent in allatectomized females. While these facts may indicate a role for juvenile hormone in controlling the level of oxidative metabolism, the effect of other hormones cannot be ruled out.