title: Biological aspects of crosses between Triatoma recurva (Stål), 1868 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) and other members of the Phyllosoma complex.
abstract: The degree of reproductive isolation between Triatoma recurva (Stål) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) and the six species of the genus Meccus plus T. mexicana (Herrich-Schaeffer) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) was examined. Fertility and the segregation of morphological characteristics were examined in two generations of hybrids from crosses between these species. The percentage of couples with offspring (fertile) was low in the vast majority of sets of crosses, with the exception of that between T. recurva female and M. phyllosomus male. In all studied sets of crosses, no first- (F1) or second- (F2) generation individuals were morphologically similar to T. recurva but instead shared the morphology of the other parental species. A similar phenomenon was observed in the three successful sets of backcrosses. These results indicated that different recorded levels of reproductive fitness among T. recurva and the species of Meccus involved in this study, plus T. mexicana, are present and that they were apparently influenced by differing mechanisms of isolation. The presence of some degree of reproductive compatibility between studied triatomines of distinct genera (Meccus spp. and Triatoma spp.) reinforces the need for generic revision of the tribe Triatomini.
authors.affiliation: Área de Entomología Médica, Departamento de Salud y Bienestar, Centro Universitario del Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara, Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, México. aibarra@cusur.udg.mx.
authors.forename: José Alejandro
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martínez-Ibarra
authors.affiliation: COFAA Grant Fellow, Departamento de Parasitología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional México D. F., México.
authors.forename: Benjamín
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nogueda-Torres
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México.
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Licón-Trillo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología de Parásitos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D. F., México.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alejandre-Aguilar
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología de Parásitos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D. F., México.
authors.forename: Paz María
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Salazar-Schettino
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología de Parásitos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D. F., México.
authors.forename: Mauro Omar
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Vences-Blanco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002678:Chimera; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D007178:Inbreeding; D008297:Male; D060047:Reproductive Isolation; D015996:Survival Rate; D014224:Triatoma / Q000235:genetics*; D014225:Triatominae / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Chagas disease; Hybridation; Phyllosoma complex species; Triatominae; reproductive isolation