title: Vector capacity of members of Triatoma brasiliensis species complex: The need to extend Chagas disease surveillance to Triatoma melanica.
abstract: We conducted a lab-based comparative study on vector capacity features of two species of triatomines: Triatoma brasiliensis and T. melanica. Both are members of the T. brasiliensis species complex. The former is the most important Chagas disease vector in the northeastern region of Brazil. To date, no transmission via T. melanica has been recorded. Immature insects exhibited distinct intermoult periods without a direct relationship to a given species. Females of T. brasiliensis consumed an average of 1.9 times more meals (mean = 12.92 vs 6.63) and survived for a shorter period (mean =330.8 days) than T. melanica (mean = 365.2 days), probably due to the cost of reproduction (all significant at P<0.05). These data support the idea that T. brasiliensis is more adapted to lab conditions and is more able to infest domiciles than T. melanica. We also found significant distinctions in other features between these species, such as the elapsed time without eating before molting, which was higher for the second, third, and fifth nymph stages of T. melanica. Regarding features analyzed related to vector capacity, insects of all life stages of both species were considered competent to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi because they needed many feedings (mean =1.5-3.82) to moult and because a high proportion (>39%) of insects defecated rapidly (<30 s) after feeding. Overall, results highlight the need to extend vector surveillance to T. melanica.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Ecologia Animal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental - PPGEMA, Universidade Federal da Paraíba-UFPB. elafolly@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Folly-Ramos
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, WI, U.S.A.
authors.forename: L Lynnette
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Dornak
authors.affiliation: Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca - CEFET/RJ, Campus Valença.
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orsolon
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Diptera e Hemiptera, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, IOC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Teresa Cristina Monte
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Ecologia Animal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental - PPGEMA, Universidade Federal da Paraíba-UFPB.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lilioso
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biodiversidade Entomológica, IOC/FIOCRUZ-RJ.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Ecologia Animal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental - PPGEMA, Universidade Federal da Paraíba-UFPB.
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Almeida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D014355:Chagas Disease; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D014224:Triatoma / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: Triatominae; Vector potential; behavior; comparative bionomics; eco-epidemiology