Comparative biology of the two sister species of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Abstract

Introduction: Triatoma pseudomaculata and T. wygodzinskyi (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) are two Brazilian vectors of Chagas disease. The first is an arboricolous species in sylvatic environment and considered a vector of T. cruzi in peridomestic structures; the second, a rupicolous species in the wild environment of no epidemiological importance. In order to test the assumption that sister species share biological traits, comparative studies of their development cycle and blood ingestion were conducted. Methods: Eggs laid by five field females of each species were randomly selected. The nymphs were observed daily and fed on mice weekly. The time required to pass through the different stages to adulthood was recorded in days. The triatomines were weighed individually before and after feeding. The mortality rate according to each nymphal stage was calculated. Results and conclusions: Analysis of the results shows that they display only minor biological differences even though they exhibit a distinct ecology. This suggests that the biological traits are important criteria to determine the relationship between species.

Bionomics of populations ofMeccus pallidipennis(Stål), 1872 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) from Mexico

“…Genetic studies of M. longipennis (a species that is closely related to M. pallidipennis ) populations in Mexico using molecular markers detected major differences on a microgeographical scale in domestic and sylvatic environments (Breniere et al 2012). Different biological traits have been studied on triatomines and some other vector species and it was concluded that they are important criteria for determining the relationships among species or populations within the same species (Carbajal de la Fuente et al 2010, Grech et al 2010, Martínez‐Ibarra et al 2012a).…”

Life cycle and vectorial competence of Triatoma williami (Galvão, Souza e Lima, 1965) under the influence of different blood meal sources

“…The mortality pattern of T.williami in the nymphal stages was irregular as it happens with many other Triatominae species (Braga et al, 1998;Carbajal de la Fuente et al, 2010;Cardozo-de-Almeida et al, 2014;Rodrigues et al, 2007). The cumulative mortality until the fifth nymphal instar of T. williami was higher in BIR group as was also shown by T. klugi (Emmanuelle-Machado et al, 2002), Rhodnius neglectus (Diotaiuti & Dias, 1987), T. brasiliensis, T.…”

“…In fact, a large number of studies about bionomic and behavioral aspects of the Triatomines suggests an increasing interest in establishing control measures and also reflects their use as an excellent biological models for studies about insect hematophagy and physiology (Lazzari et al, 2013).The life cycle of triatomines varies according to the species, the environmental condition and blood meal source (Carbajal de la Fuente et al, 2010;Schofield, 1985), so the general goals of this study were to describe, for the first time, the biological cycle of T.…”

Biology of Triatoma carcavalloi Jurberg, Rocha & Lent, 1998 under laboratory conditions

“…The life cycles of triatomines vary according to the species, environmental conditions and the availability of suitable sources of blood 9,10 .…”