title: Population morphometric analysis of the tropicopolitan bug Triatoma rubrofasciata and relationships with old world species of Triatoma: evidence of New World ancestry.
abstract: Quantitative analysis of morphological characters of the head was used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the tropicopolitan bug Triatoma rubrofasciata (De Geer) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and seven species of Old World Triatoma. Multivariate analysis demonstrates that T. rubrofasciata and the Old World species have a high degree of similarity with Nearctic Triatoma species, particularly T. rubida (Uhler). We interpret this to imply a common ancestry for these groups. Dissemination of T. rubrofasciata and subsequent derivation of the Old World species of Triatoma is deduced to have occurred over a period of not more than 350 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK. james.patterson@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schofield
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dujardin
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Miles
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007194:India; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010139:Pacific Islands; D010802:Phylogeny; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014224:Triatoma / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D014741:Video Recording; D014900:West Indies