The focus of this dissertation is on bed bug thermal biology. How bed bugs react to heat exposure at the population, behavioral, and physiological levels was explored. The thermal tolerance of different bed bug populations and sublethal effects heat exposure were investigated. The temperatures that cause bed bugs to flee from their harborages was determined using a custom made arena. How bed bug physiology changes after heat exposure was determined using RT-qPCR. Finally, how conspecifics react to bed bugs that have been lethally exposed to heat was determined using still air bioassays.<br>

Although bed bug eggs are a difficult life stage to control with our currently labeled insecticides, few studies have examined how bed bug egg morphology and physiology is potentially related to pesticide resistance in bed bug eggs. Bed bug egg morphological features were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the chorion and respiration structures were identified. Scanning electron microscopy photographs and bed bug egg measurements indicated there were no morphological differences between different bed bug egg strains (susceptible and resistant). Bed bug egg respiration rates measured by the amount of oxygen consumed (standard metabolic rate; SMR) also indicated there was no difference in SMR between different bed bug egg strains. Water conservation during respiration is vital to terrestrial insects. Therefore, similar patterns would be expected between egg water loss and respiration rates. However, susceptible strain eggs lost more water than one resistant strain of bed bug eggs, which was dissimilar from the respiration results, indicating that bed bug egg water loss and respiration are not directly related. Dose- response bioassays using two insecticide formulations (Temprid; imidacloprid/β-cyfluthrin, and Transport; acetamiprid/bifenthrin) indicated that bed bug eggs collected from pyrethroid resistant adult bed bug strains are also highly resistant. RNA sequencing of bed bug eggs from two resistant strains indicated that egg resistance may be directly related to the overexpression of multiple genes associated with insecticide resistance. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Pest insects cause great financial losses in the forest and food industry every year. To fight these pests industries have used insecticides, which are sometimes harmful to nature and humans. One potential way of avoiding insecticides is the use of integrated pest management based on insect communication, which would offer species-specific methods for protecting forest and food resources. Insects use chemicals known as semiochemicals for both intra- and interspecies communication. By learning how insects use these semio-chemicals to talk to each other we can eavesdrop and mimic their communication for our benefit. One research area dealing with these questions is chemical ecology, which is an interdisciplinary area as knowledge in chemistry and biology is required. Collaborations between groups within and outside of Sweden are essential in order to make progress in this field of research. This thesis presents the identification and synthesis of semiochemicals from several insect species, most of which are considered to be pests. Synthesised compounds have been sent to collaboration partners around Sweden and Europe for biological evaluations. Studies of the African butterfly, Bicyclus anynana, have unravelled particular biological phenomena that may aid in the understanding of the Bicyclus genus, though recognizing individual species variation is crucial. In 2008 the putative male sex pheromone of B. anynana was determined to consist of three compounds: hexadecanal, (Z)-9-tetradecenol and 6,10,14-trimethylpentadecan-2-ol, and the specific stereoisomer for 6,10,14-trimethylpentadecan-2-ol has been determined in this thesis. The ratio of 6,10,14-trimethylpentadecan-2-ol and the corresponding ketone were investigated for seventeen Bicyclus species (including B. anynana) that live in overlapping regions in Africa. The stereochemistry was determined for most of the species and may provide a way to chemically distinguish them. The orchid bees, Euglossa spp, are important pollinators of many orchids in Central America. Insight about pollination and conservation of endangered orchid species may be possible by gathering more information about the Euglossa genus. Males of the Euglossa genus have pouch-like structures on their hind legs where they store compounds collected from their surroundings. 6,10,14-Trimethyl-pentadecan-2-one is a common component of leg extracts from Euglossa imperialis, E. crassipunctata and E. allosticta, the specific stereochemistry of which has been determined in this thesis. Another, different compound was found in high amounts in E. viridissima and its structure has been elucidated; several synthetic pathways are under investigation to obtain the target compound. Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus) are an ectoparasite that feed on human blood, and the number of reported infestations of these parasites has increased considerably during the last decade. Two 5th instar nymph-specific compounds, 4-oxo-hexenal and 4-oxo-octenal, were identified and synthesised. Utilizing domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in the identification of bed bug infestations has become popular during recent years. Their training is usually conducted using live bed bugs, however this thesis describes an alternative method of teaching dogs to find infestations. This alternative method is based on synthetic compounds and dogs trained in this manner have achieved a high positive indication rate. Two species of the tiny, Acacia leaf-eating insect pests in Australia known as thrips, Kladothrips nicolsoni and K. rugosus, have been investigated by means of larval extracts and have been shown to contain large amount of (Z)-3-dodecenoic acid which was synthesised and tested in bioassays. Fruit flies are common pests on fruit in almost every private household. Even though fruit flies has been investigated extensively, their chemical communication has not been completely elucidated. (Z)-4-undecenal was identified as a compound emitted by females, it was synthesised in high stereoisomeric purity and evaluated in biological assays. / FORE

The Common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., suddenly reappeared in developed countries in the past 15 years. The factor contributing to the sudden resurgence of the bed bugs is insecticide resistance. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of reduced cuticular penetration type insecticide resistance in bed bugs. First, we determined and compared the lethal dosage (LD50) of a pyrethroid insecticide using topical and injection application. The resistant strain not only had significantly greater resistance ratios, but also demonstrated significantly greater penetration resistance ratios. This provided the evidence of the reduced cuticular penetration in bed bugs. Second, we determined the levels of gene transcription (CPR-type cuticle protein genes) using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We identified 62 putative bed bug cuticle protein-encoding contigs based on the presence of the Chitin-binding 4 (CB4) domain. Based on the qRT-PCR analysis of the mRNAs, we found many of the genes were up-regulated in the resistant strain suggesting thickening of the cuticle or increasing the cuticular proteins might be involved in the reduced cuticular penetration. Third, we identified and described the cuticular proteins using the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight/time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). The total of 265 peptides were identified, among which 206 belonged to one of 50 confidently identified proteins. We identified the CPRL, CPF, CPFL, TWDL, and CPAP1 family proteins. The profile of the cuticular proteins between the resistant and the susceptible strains bed bugs were almost identical. Fourth, we determined and compared the cuticular thickness using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). We found statistical differences of the cuticular thickness among different strains (populations), however, correlation between the levels of insecticide resistance and cuticular thickness were not found. Finally, we identified and described bed bug cuticular hydrocarbon profiles using Gas-Chromatography and Mass-Spectrometry (GC-MS). The total of 87 compounds in addition to n-alkanes were extracted and identified. There were no correlation found with the concentration and the levels of insecticide resistance. However, several additional compounds exhibited the correlation between the concentration of the compounds and the levels of insecticide resistance. Overall, we found three lines of evidence to support reduced cuticular penetration as a mechanism of insecticide resistance in some bed bug populations. This study provides additional evidence of the reduced cuticular penetration type resistance in bed bugs. / Ph. D.