(BRIEF) A groundbreaking study by researchers at the University of Bristol and Stellenbosch University shows that a single heatwave has a significant impact on the fertility of female and male tsetse flies, key vectors of diseases such as sleeping sickness and nagana in Africa. Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study demonstrates that heatwaves not only reduce the fertility of exposed flies, but also the fertility of their offspring, leading to an asymmetrical sex ratio with more daughters than sons. This finding highlights the concern implications of climate change-induced heat waves on insect biodiversity and the spread of disease, highlighting the urgent need for further studies to understand and mitigate those effects on global insect populations.
(PRESS RELEASE) BRISTOL, March 13, 2024 – /EuropaWire/ – The fertility of female and male tsetse flies is affected by a single weather outbreak, researchers from the University of Bristol and Stellenbosch University in South Africa found.
The effects of a single heat wave were felt even in the children of heat-exposed parents, with more daughters than sons born.
The study, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, helps explain why tsetse flies are declining in parts of their diversity in Africa and has vital implications for the diseases they spread, namely sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock.
Senior doctor Hester Weaving, from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “A single heatwave broke the male and female fertility of disease-spreading tsetse flies, leading to population declines.
“Ultimately, heatwaves can lead to a loss of insect biodiversity, either outright death or loss of fertility, which is concerning given that heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity due to ongoing climate change. “
Scientists know that in many animals, fertility is interrupted at temperatures that are less excessive than those that kill them. In some cases, animals can become absolutely sterile in reaction to heat, preventing them from having offspring. Overall, male fertility has declined, a tendency to be more sensitive to temperature than female fertility, so the existing effects are striking.
The team carried out laboratory experiments using water baths in Bristol to mimic a heat wave. To determine whether women or men were more sensitive to the heat wave, they exposed them to heat separately and then paired them with unexposed members of the opposite sex. They measured the number of offspring produced by the flies and the number of deaths during the six weeks following the heat wave.
Dr Weaving said: “We’ve been like this with tsetse flies spreading sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa to humans, livestock and wildlife.
“They are desirable insects because they expand only one egg at a time, feeding it like a larva in the womb with a milk-like substance. The mother will then give birth to the larva, which will possibly have the same weight as her.
Researchers have shown that it is not unusual for male fertility to be more sensitive to heat in all insects.
The study’s lead author, Dr Sinead English, said: “Our study provides important insights into how climate replaces disease-carrying insects. We cannot assume that the patterns observed in tsetse flies match those discovered in better-studied laboratory systems. such as seed beetles or fruit flies.
It would now be mandatory to measure other insect species to see if this result is widespread among other insect species, with implications for their global distribution in the face of climate change.
Paper:
“Heat waves affect the fertility of the viviparous tsetse fly” via Hester Weaving, John S Terblanche, and Sinead English in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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SOURCE: University of Bristol
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