A cohort initiated with 121 eggs, yielding 105 first instar nymphs (eclosion rate: 86.78%), allowed us to observe
the entire life cycle of
Triatoma ryckmani
under laboratory conditions (24ºC and 62% relative humidity), by feeding
them on anesthetized hamsters. It was possible to obtain 62 adults and the cycle from egg to adult took a mean of
359.69 days with a range of 176-529 days (mortality rate of nymphs: 40.95%). Mean life span of adults was of 81 days
for females and 148 days for males. The developmental periods of 4th and 5th nymphs were longer than those of the
other instars. This suggests that young siblings have a better chance of taking a hemolymph meal from older ones,
in order to survive during fasting periods during prolonged absences of vertebrate hosts from natural ecotopes. The
stomach contents of 37 insects showed blood from rodents (15 cases), lizards (7 cases), birds (6 cases) and insect
hemolymph (7 cases). Out of 10 insects fed by xenodiagnosis on a
Trypanosoma cruzi
infected mouse, all but one
became infected with the parasite.
