Feeding behaviour of Belminus ferroae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), a predaceous Triatominae colonizing rural houses in Norte de Santander,Colombia |
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| Authors: | C. M. SANDOVAL N. ORTIZ D. JAIMES E. LOROSA C. GALVÃO O. RODRIGUEZ J. V. SCORZA R. GUTIÉRREZ |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Laboratorio de Entomologia Médica, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomédicas (INBIOM), Universidad de Pamplona, Pamplona, Norte de Santander, Colombia;2. Laboratório de Protozoologia, Instituto Experimental José Witremundo Torrealba, Núcleo Universitario Rafael Rangel (NURR), Universidad de Los Andes, Trujillo, Venezuela;3. Subgrupo de Control de Vectores, Instituto Departamental de Salud, Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia;4. Laboratório Nacional e Internacional de Referência em Taxonomia de Triatomíneos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Belminus ferroae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) was collected from houses in the localities of San Alberto and Santa Catalina in the municipality of Toledo, Department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. Precipitin tests revealed that the main hosts of B. ferroae are insects belonging to the order Blattodea, whose haemolymph serves as food (89.43%). A low rate of haematophagy was indicated on rodents, dogs and humans (7.32%) and no natural infection with Trypanosoma cruzi was found by either microscopic examination or polymerase chain reaction. The finding of B. ferroae inside houses, feeding primarily on Blattodea with only a minor tendency to feed on vertebrate blood, is indicative of both the evolutionary path from predator to blood‐sucker taken by Triatominae and their tendency to adapt from silvatic to domestic habitats. |
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| Keywords: | Belminus ferroae Belminus haemolymphagy predation Triatominae Colombia |
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