Article
Ecotopes, Natural Infection and Trophic Resources of Triatoma brasiliensis (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae)
Registro en:
COSTA, Jane et al. Ecotopes, Natural Infection and Trophic Resources of Triatoma brasiliensis (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae). Memórias do Instituto oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v. 93, n. 1, p. 7-13, Jan./Feb. 1998.
0074-0276
10.1590/S0074-02761998000100002
1678-8060
Autor
Costa, Jane
Almeida, Josimar Ribeiro de
Britto, Celia
Duarte, Rosemere
Silva, Verônica Marchon
Pacheco, Raquel da S.
Resumen
Triatoma brasiliensis is considered as one of the most important Chagas disease vectors in the northeastern Brazil. This species presents chromatic variations which led to descriptions of subspecies, synonymized by Lent and Wygodzinsky (1979). In order to broaden bionomic knowledge of these distinct
colour patterns of T. brasiliensis, captures were performed at different sites, where the chromatic patterns were described: Caicó, Rio Grande do Norte (T. brasiliensis brasiliensis Neiva, 1911), it will be
called the “brasiliensis population”; Espinosa, Minas Gerais (T. brasiliensis melanica Neiva & Lent
1941), the “melanica population” and Petrolina, Pernambuco (T. brasiliensis macromelasoma, Galvão
1956), the “macromelasoma population”. A fourth chromatic pattern was collected in Juazeiro, Bahia
the darker one in overall cuticle coloration, the “Juazeiro population”. At the sites of Caicó, Petrolina
and Juazeiro, specimens were captured in peridomiciliar ecotopes and in wilderness. In Espinosa the
specimens were collected only in wilderness, even though several exhaustive captures have been performed in peridomicile at different sites of this municipality. A total of 298 specimens were captured. The
average registered infection rate was 15% for “brasiliensis population” and of 6.6% for “melanica
population”. Specimens of “macromelasoma” and of “Juazeiro populations” did not present natural
infection. Concerning trophic resources, evaluated by the precipitin test, feeding eclecticism for the
different colour patterns studied was observed, with dominance of goat blood in household surroundings as well as in wilderness.