VENOMOUS SALIVA OF NON-HAEMATOPHAGOUS REDUVIID BUGS (HETEROPTERA: REDUVIIDAE): A REVIEW

ABSTRACT

While reduviids are a modestly well characterized group of insects, especially the blood sucking triatominae due to the medical implications of the Chagas disease, which is mainly transmitted by the infected bugs whose excrement contains Trypanosoma cruzi that enters the body through bruises or cuts in the skin of humans, their non-haematophagus counterparts are a forgotten lot and have not been thoroughly investigated. The venom in the saliva of the non-haematophagus reduviids has come into the spotlight in the last couple of decades due to the voracious predatory lifestyle that enable them to be used as biological control agents in subduing pests. But the biochemistry of reduviid venom, its action and subsequent effect on the prey, toxicity, enzymes, peptides present in the venom and their significance, the role of extra oral digestion facilitated by the venom for its predatory lifestyle have not been given much consideration. This review aims to summarize the existing body of literature regarding the venomous saliva of non-haematophagous reduviid bugs for the first time.

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