Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 1911 is now considered the most important Chagas disease vector in the semiarid zones of northeastern Brazil. Four distinct populations of T. brasiliensis have been identified by multidisciplinary studies: brasiliensis (Caicó, RN), melânica (Espinosa, MG), macromelasoma (Petrolina, PE), and juazeiro (Juazeiro, BA). By scanning electron microscopy of egg exochorion, each population displayed a distinct ornamentation pattern. The brasiliensis, macromelasoma, and juazeiro populations were found in both artificial ecotopes and the wild, while the melânica population was collected only in the wild. Isoenzymatic analysis detected phenotypic and genetic differences among them, with the melânica population being the most distinct. The brasiliensis population is the most important one from an epidemiological point of view, with the widest geographic distribution, the highest Trypanosoma cruzi infection rate, and occupying a wide variety of ecotopes.
Chagas Disease; Triatominae; Triatoma brasiliensis; Insect Vectors