The Sensory Machinery of the Head Louse Pediculus humanus capitis: From the Antennae to the Brain

This study showed that although head lice are arrested around human scalp samples, they did not show differences between the human samples of different volunteers nor with the aging of the scalp sample (i.e., 60 h-old samples are as much attractive as 0 h-old samples) (Ortega Insaurralde et al., 2016). Thus, a piece of filter paper (1 cm × 1 cm) was rubbed during 30 s against the scalp of one 30-year-old female volunteer who had not bathed or used perfumed products in the 24 h previous to the extraction. Immediately after rubbing, the filter paper was located at one side of the circular arena, while a clean filter paper was placed at the opposite side. All filter papers were handled with gloves and clean forceps to avoid skin contamination. The base of the whole circular arena was homogeneously heated at 32 ± 2°C to mimic natural host conditions. Intact (INT) or differentially antennectomized lice (F3-, F2F3- or 1ANT) were individually released at the center of the arena and their behavior recorded in video. Set Up of the Hygric Stimulus To generate a hygric heterogeneity in the experimental arena, the filter paper used as a substrate of half of the circular arena was maintained dry, while the opposite half was homogeneously loaded with 100 μl of tap water using a micropipette. The base of the whole circular arena was maintained at room temperature (22 �...
Source: Frontiers in Physiology - Category: Physiology Source Type: research