Intraspecific variability of Triatoma dimidiata based on the analysis of its cuticular hydrocarbon pattern

JUAREZ MP; CALDERÓN FERNÁNDEZ G; GIROTTI J

Nevada, USA

Congreso; 4th International Congress of Vector Ecology; 2005

Society of Vector Ecology

The instraspecific variability of the Chagas Disease vector Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) was studied by comparing the cuticular hydrocarbon pattern of specimens collected from different localities in Belice, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The hydrocarbon composition and structure were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (CGC), and CGC coupled to mass spectrometry. A blend of straight and methyl-branched chains between 21 to more than 40 carbon atoms were detected. Multivariate analyses were used to establish the relationship and differentiation degree between populations. Populations were grouped mostly in accordance to their geographical vicinity. Specimens from southern Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica were closely related and clustered in a separate group than insects from Hidalgo, Veracruz, northern Oaxaca and Chiapas (Mexico). Insects fromYucatan and Cozumel (Mexico) grouped together with the nearby state of Peten, in northern Guatemala. Specimens from Belize grouped close to those of Lanquin caves from Guatemala, they were clearly differentiated from the other groups. These results show that T. dimidiata exhibit a large overall variability. Human migrations might have played a role in its dispersion, as suggested by the clustering of Colombian specimens to those from the Gulf coast in Mexico.