The Secretion from Brindley's Scent Glands in Triatominae

The subfamily Triatominae of the family Reduviidae is composed of blood-sucking bugs of which several are of economic importance as vectors of the etiological agent of Chagas' disease in the Neotropical region. In one member of the subfamily, Rhodnius prolixus</it> Stål, the main if not the only component of the defensive scent from Brindley's scent glands has been identified. It is iso-butyric acid (Pattenden and Staddon 1972). We have since carried out analyses of the scent collected from the Brindley's glands of Triatoma phyllosoma</it> (Burmeister) and Panstrongylus megistus</it> (Burmeister). The liquid scent was collected after dissection and stored in acetone in a sealed glass tube for subsequent analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Games and Staddon 1973). The solution was injected at a temperature of 60°C and the analysis concluded at a temperature of 200°C. Two separate accumulations of scent from T. phyllosoma</it> and one from P. megistus</it> were analyzed. The chromatographic trace obtained from each sample revealed one peak only and the several spectra obtained through the course of peak development and decay were indistinguishable from each other and from that of an authentic sample of iso-butyric acid obtained under the same conditions of analysis. Possibly the production of iso-butyric acid by Brindley's glands is a characteristic of the subfamily Triatominae.