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Triatominae, kissing bugs

Rhodnius spp.

• Rhodnius Rhodnius species are primarily associated with palm tree habitats. Many species prefer feeding on birds, which commonly nest in palms. (Gaunt M et al., 2000). The similarity between Rhodnius species is so great that one species is frequently mistaken for another, due to their morphologic similarity.
  • R. brethesi Sylvatic species from the Amazon region; it has been incriminated as responsible for the transmission of Chagas disease in collectors of piacaba in this region (Rocha Dda S et al., 2004). Life cycle: Rocha Dda S et al., 2004.
  • R. colombiensis Sylvatic triatomine associated with wine palm trees (Attalea butyracea) in the high basin of the Magdalena river (Colombia). Capable of household invasion (Arévalo A et al., 2007). Life cycle: Arévalo A et al., 2007.
  • R. domesticus Biology: Guarneri AA et al., 1998.
  • R. ecuadoriensis Together with T. dimidiata is one of main vectors in Equador (Aguilar V HM et al., 1999). and Peru (Cuba CA et al., 2002). Sylvatic populations of the species are probably associated with Phytelephas palm trees. Infests peridomiciles and colonizes houses in rural southern Ecuador (Abad-Franch F et al., 2002). Life cycle / feeeding / defecation: Villacís AG et al., 2008.
  • R. nasutus Native to Brazilian Northeast. Live on various palm tree species. Associated with possums and birds. Represents a potentially important sylvatic vector (Dias FB et al., 2008). Feeding / defecation: Oliveira TG et al., 2009.
  • R. neglectus Frequently found in palm trees and bird nests in sylvatic environments. However, adult specimens infected by Trypanosoma cruzi have been invading houses in central Brazil. (Gurgel-Goncalves R, Cuba CA., 2009).
  • R. neivai Found in Colombia. Life cycle: Cabello DR., 1999.
  • R. pallescens Silvatic species living in palm trees in Colombia and part of Central America. In Colombia, the species did not adapt to domestic structures and is not considered as an important vector for humans. In Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua it is a recognized as a vector adapting to peridomestic and domestic environments (Riańo HC et al., 2009).
  • R. pictipes Distributed in the Amazon basin; arboreal. Has trend to establish domestic and peridomestic colonies. Adults can fly into the houses from palm trees. (Aguilar V HM et al., 1999). Together with P. geniculatus, is one of most common species in French Guiana. (Bérenger JM et al., 2009). Found in Peru (Cuba CA et al., 2002).
  • R. prolixus One of the main domiciliated vectors in Central America. Can heavily infest palm roofs (Gaunt M, Miles M., 2002). Feeds exclusively on vertebrate blood in all life stages ( Ribeiro JM et al., 2004). Together with T. infestans has major importantce as a vector of T. cruzi; principal domestic vector in Venezuela. The vectorial capacity of R. prolixus was found to be three times that of T. dimidiata (Ponce et al., 1993; Ponce, 1995). By the 1990s, the species almost completely disappeared from Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. The reduction is attributed to the decrease in thatched-roof houses and to widespread insecticide spraying by the malaria eradication campaigns that started in the mid-1950s. (Yamagata Y, Nakagawa J., et al., 2006) Life cycle: Arévalo A et al., 2007.
  • R. robustus Distributed in the Amazon basin; arboreal. Has trend to establish domestic and peridomestic colonies. Found in Peru (Cuba CA et al., 2002). Adults can fly into the houses from palm trees. (Aguilar V HM et al., 1999).
  • R. stali Found in Bolivia. Collected from inside houses and in the peridomestic environment. (Matias A et al., 2003). Attalea phalerata palm trees represent an important sylvatic ecotope (Justi SA et al., 2010).