The response to intra- and interspecific assembling signals was tested in
three species of Chagas' disease vectors. As previously described for
Triatoma infestans, larvae of both species, T. sordida and T. guasayana,
aggregated on papers impregnated with their own excrement. Moreover, bugs
belonging to each of the three species also aggregated on papers
contaminated with faeces from the other two, with the only exception of the
larvae of T. guasayana, which did not assemble on faeces of T. sordida. In
all cases, the response to interspecific excrement was as strong as that to
the intraspecific one. The non-specificity of the signal is discussed in
the context of the ecological association of the three species and their
role as vectors of Chagas' disease.
