The aim of this work was to study the interaction between
Trypanosoma cruzi
-1 and
Triatoma brasiliensis
. A group
of 1st instar nymphs was initially fed on
T. cruzi-infected mice and a control group was fed on uninfected mice. From
the second feeding onwards, both groups were otherwise fed on non-infected mice. The resulting adults were grouped
in pairs: infected male/uninfected female, uninfected male/infected female, infected male and female and uninfected
male/uninfected female. The infection affected only the 1st instar nymphs, which took significantly more time to reach
the 2nd instar than uninfected nymphs. The differences in the molting time between the infected and uninfected nymphs
from the 2nd to the 5th instars were not statistically significant. Both groups presented similar rates of nymphal
mortality and reproductive performance was not significantly affected by infection in any of the treatments.
