Ap Biology Bed Bug Experiment

Bed bugs, known as Cimex lectularius L., are blood-sucking insects that dwell in homes, hotels, and basically anywhere. In order for the bed bugs to survive and grow, the bug feeds on blood. The best time for the bed bugs to come out and retrieve their daily dose of blood is at night, which is controlled by the circadian rhythm. During the bug’s nightly routine, the bug is triggered by carbon dioxide released by the humans and comes out of its hiding place to seek a victim. The heat produced by the victim attracts the bed bug onto the bare skin. As soon as the bed bug is on the victim, its rostrum pierces the skin and sucks out the blood within 10 minutes. Side effects of getting bit by a bed bug include: itchiness, rash marks, and psychological

All of the chemicals and solutions conducted in the experiment were either from Pierce/Thermo Fisher Scientific or purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Many of the concentrations were diluted in water or heated to a certain temperature to see how bed bugs would react to these different solutions. Scientists conducted two experiments to see how bed bugs reacted to different concentrations. The first experiment bed bugs were treated with adenosine nucleotides such as ATP, ADP, and AMP. After collecting data, the results show that there was little to no difference between bugs engorging on blood and ATP. Also, the same effect applied to low concentrations of ATP and phosphate-buffered saline when offered to male bed bugs. This experiment revealed that bed bugs engorged more than 80% of ATP, 40% of ADP, and less than 20% of AMP. Which means that ATP had the highest effect on bed bugs than ADP or

Different groups of bed bugs were offered 3%, 1%, 0.1%, and 10% of NaCl solutions, however, none of the bugs reacted to the 10% solution. The 3% NaCl solution was engorged the most by male bed bugs. Which we can say that bed bugs are fastidious insects, because the higher percentage of the solution the bed bugs will not have the ability to survive. Same concept goes with the lower percentage of the solution. Bed bugs do not react fully when offered a low percentage of solution, therefore, the bug would rather engorge on a solution with a medium percentage. Scientists also detected that solutions containing albumin, globulins, amino acids, vitamins, and cholesterol had a lower rate of being engorged. To further understand how bed bugs feed on blood, scientists also tested chemicals that are found in the blood.
Bed bugs have both innate and fixed action behaviors. Innate behavior is known as instinct behavior, which the bug’s instinct is to feed on blood. Fixed action behavior is define as triggered instincts, which carbon dioxide and heat produced by the host triggers the bed bug to suck on the blood.
Another study have shown that triatomines, Aedes, Culex pipiens, and Simulium venustum responded highly to AMP rather than ATP. Thus, assuming that bed bugs and adenine nucleotides come into contact at the biting site, but apyrase in the bug’s saliva does not recognize this reaction.
Many scientists hypothesize