Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Mar 2002)

Observations on the Domestic Ecology of Rhodnius ecuadoriensis (Triatominae)

  • F Abad-Franch,
  • HM Aguilar V,
  • A Paucar C,
  • ES Lorosa,
  • F Noireau

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762002000200010
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 97, no. 2
pp. 199 – 202

Abstract

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Rhodnius ecuadoriensis infests peridomiciles and colonises houses in rural southern Ecuador. Six out of 84 dwellings (7%) surveyed in a rural village were infested (78 bugs/infested domicile; 279 bugs were collected in a single dwelling). Precipitin tests revealed R. ecuadoriensis fed on birds (65%), rodents (31%), marsupials (8%), and humans (15%) - mixed bloodmeals detected in 37.5% of individual samples. Trypanosoma cruzi from opossums and rodents may thus be introduced into the domestic cycle. Wasp parasitoidism was detected in 6.5% of 995 R. ecuadoriensis eggs (only in peridomestic habitats). Control strategies should integrate insecticide spraying (indoors and peridomestic), better management of poultry, and housing improvements. A possible inefficacy of Malathion is reported.

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