INVESTIGADORES
GURTLER Ricardo Esteban
artículos
Título:
Seasonal variations of microclimatic conditions in domestic and peridomestic habitats of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in rural northwest Argentina.
Autor/es:
VAZQUEZ-PROKOPEC GM; CEBALLOS LA; CECERE MC; GURTLER RE
Revista:
ACTA TROPICA
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Referencias:
Año: 2002 vol. 84 p. 229 - 238
ISSN:
0001-706X
Resumen:
Our objectives were to describe and compare the seasonal variations in microclimatic conditions in domestic and
peridomestic ecotopes infested by Triatoma infestans , the main vector of Chagas disease, in rural northwestern
Argentina. Using data loggers for 4/7 consecutive days in October 2000, February, May and August 2001, microsite
(interior of thatched roofs) and ambient temperatures or relative humidity (RH) were recorded simultaneously and
compared with an external reference. The damping effects on microsite temperature and ambient RH increased
successively from the goat corral to the chicken coop or pig corral, to the storeroom or human habitation. In the
interior of the thatched roofs of the habitation and storeroom, average external minima were increased by /5.0 to
/5.6 8C in all seasons, and average external maxima were decreased by /4.3 to /5.6 8C in October/May and
/10.6 8C in August. On average, the human habitation damped extreme temperatures by 8 8C over a wider range
than previously reported. The interior of the thatched roofs of the pig corral and chicken coop exerted intermediate
damping effects that varied over seasons, whereas the goat corral?s thatch showed little or no damping effects at all. The
adobe-and-thatch habitation and storeroom presented nearly optimal and more suitable conditions for T. infestans
populations than other open structures housing animals. Global climate changes are expected to affect peridomestic
populations of T. infestans much more than domestic bug populations, provided other local conditions are held
constant. Heterogeneous habitat conditions are expected to affect T. infestans population parameters, dispersal, control
and infection with Trypanosoma cruzi .