The blood-sucking hemipteran Rhodnius prolixus is one of the main vectors of Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease that affects several million people worldwide. Consuming a blood meal and mating are events with a high epidemiological impact since after each meal, mated females can lay fertile eggs that result in hundreds of offspring. Thus, a better knowledge of the control of R. prolixus reproductive capacity may provide targets for developing novel strategies to control vector populations, thereby reducing vector-host contacts and disease transmission. Here, we have used a combination of gene transcript expression analysis, biochemical assays, hormone measurements and studies of locomotory activity to investigate how mating influences egg development and egg laying rates in R. prolixus females. The results demonstrate that a blood meal increases egg production capacity and leads to earlier egg laying in mated females compared to virgins. Virgin females, however, have increased survival rate over mated females. Circulating juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid titers are increased in mated females, a process mainly driven through an upregulation of the transcripts for their biosynthetic enzymes in the corpus allatum and ovaries, respectively. Mated females display weaker locomotory activity compared to virgin females, mainly during the photophase. In essence, this study shows how reproductive output and behaviour are profoundly influenced by mating, highlighting molecular, biochemical, endocrine and behavioral features differentially expressed in mated and virgin R. prolixus females.

Biology Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Institute of Parasitology České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Science Institute Florida International University Miami Florida United States of America

Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Canada

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biomolecular Science Institute Florida International University Miami Florida United States of America

Department of Parasitology University of South Bohemia České Budějovice Czech Republic

Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología Mar del Plata Buenos Aires Argentina

Instituto René Rachou Avenida Augusto de Lima Belo Horizonte MG Brazil

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