Among the vectors of Chagas
disease,
Triatoma patagonica
is a species in the process of
adaptation to the human environment being recently registered in urban and suburban
zones. However, its importance as a vector of Chagas disease is unknown. The aim
of this work was to evaluate two aspects of vectorial competence: the feeding
behaviour and the defaecation pattern. These processes were studied in females
of
T. patagonica fed ad libitum on a restrained pigeon. The results showed
that the blood meal size was negatively correlated with the time of first defaecation
(r = -0.42). The first defaecation was emitted before the first 10 min and defaecations
during feeding were frequent. A total of 73% of females, defaecated during the
first 30 min post-feeding. These results suggest that if this species subsequently
colonizes the domicile, it would be capable of transmitting
Trypanosoma cruzi
.
