Feeding sources and natural infection of Belminus herreri (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) from dwellings in Cesar, Colombia

Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2004 Mar;99(2):137-40. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762004000200004.

Abstract

Belminus herreri, originally described from specimens collected in Panama, was considered entirely silvatic until to 2000 when it was found for the first time in a domestic habitat in Colombia. In 2001, during a new search of houses in the Department of Cesar, Colombia, 121 specimens were collected. Study of their feeding sources using an ELISA test revealed that 96% of these specimens had fed on cockroaches (Blattidae). However, a small proportion of these B. herreri specimens also showed the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in their gut contents, suggesting a possible role for these insects in the epidemiology of Chagas disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chagas Disease / transmission
  • Colombia
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Contents*
  • Housing
  • Insect Vectors / parasitology
  • Insect Vectors / physiology*
  • Male
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Triatominae / parasitology
  • Triatominae / physiology*
  • Trypanosoma cruzi / isolation & purification