Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli, 1786)'nin Farklı Kairomonlara Yönelimi

Abstract

Vertebrate or plant hosts provide numerous stimuli in various forms that aid arthropods in determining their location. Among these stimuli, kairomones, which enable the detection of hosts through their "scents," are of paramount importance. This thesis aims to investigate the effects of certain kairomones, recognized for their attractive influence on various blood-feeding arthropods, on individuals of Phlebotomus papatasi, which are widely distributed in the Palearctic region, including Turkey. The study uniquely tests the attractive effects of different kairomones on adult P. papatasi within an olfactometer system for the first time.

In the experiments conducted, the attractive effects of seven different kairomones (1-octen-3-ol, sulcatone, linalool oxide, 1-hexanol, decanal, m-cresol, and p-cresol) and three different concentrations (10^-2, 10^-3, 10^-4) of each kairomone were examined. The experiments were performed under standard climate chamber conditions, using 690 female and 690 male adult individuals that were colonized. The data obtained from the attractiveness tests were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Based on iii these attraction analyses, two mixtures were prepared with the kairomone concentrations yielding the best results for each sex, and the attractiveness of these mixtures was separately tested on both female and male P. papatasi individuals. Within the olfactometer system, the time elapsed from the release of the test subjects into the system to their entry into the preferred trap bottles was examined for each kairomone and its different concentrations. The obtained data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H test.

The results for female individuals indicated that decanal (10^-4), hexanol (10^-4), sulcatone (10^-2), and linalool oxide (10^-4) were among the kairomones with the highest attractive effects, while p-cresol (10^-2) had the lowest probability of attracting P. papatasi females. For male individuals, hexanol (10^-4), linalool (10^-3), 1-octen-3-ol (10^-4), and sulcatone (10^-4) were identified as the kairomones with the highest attractive effects, whereas m-cresol (10^-2) was the kairomone with the lowest probability of attracting P. papatasi males. The mixture prepared using the kairomones with the highest attractive effects for female individuals did not exhibit significantly higher attractiveness compared to the individual kairomones comprising the mixture. Similar results were obtained from the attractiveness tests using the mixture prepared for male individuals. The kairomone most quickly preferred by female individuals was decanal (10^-3), and the least quickly preferred was 1-octen-3-ol (10^-2). For male individuals, the kairomone most quickly preferred was hexanol (10^-3), while the least quickly preferred was sulcatone (10^-2).

The findings of this thesis demonstrate that the attractive effects of the tested kairomones on adult P. papatasi individuals vary depending on the specific kairomone, its concentration, and the sex of the individuals. These results are expected to contribute not only to studies related to the ecology of sand flies and the epidemiology of sand fly-borne diseases but also to the development of sustainable Integrated Vector Management strategies.