feeding sources and natural infection of belminus herreri (hemiptera, reduviidae, triatominae) from dwellings in cesar, colombia
;Claudia Magaly Sandoval;Rosemere Duarte;Reinaldo Gutíerrez;Dayse da Silva Rocha;Victor Manuel Angulo;Lida Esteban;Marlen Reyes;José Jurberg;Cleber Galvão
kurdistan journal of applied research2004Vol. 99pp. 137-140
141
sandoval2004memriasfeeding
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.