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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 110, No. 6, 2015, pp. 793-796
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Bioline Code: oc15107
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 110, No. 6, 2015, pp. 793-796
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Thermal preferences and limits of Triatoma brasiliensis in its natural environment - Field observations while host searching
Catalá, Silvia; Bezerra, Claudia Mendonça & Diotaiuti, Lileia
Abstract
The goal of this work was to explore the thermal relationship between foraging Triatoma brasiliensis and its
natural habitat during the hottest season in the state of Ceará, Brazil. The thermal profiles were determined using
infrared analysis. Although the daily temperature of rock surfaces varied in a wide range, T. brasiliensis selected to
walk through areas with temperatures between 31.7-40.5ºC. The temperature of T. brasiliensis body surface ranged
from 32.8-34.4ºC, being higher in legs than the abdomen. A strong relationship was found between the temperature
of the insect and the temperature of rock crevices where they were hidden (r: 0.96, p < 0.05). The species was active
at full sunlight being a clear example of how the light-dark rhythm may be altered, even under predation risk.
Our results strongly suggest a thermal borderline for T. brasiliensis foraging activity near 40ºC. The simultaneous
determination of insect body and rock temperatures here presented are the only obtained in natural habitats for this
or other triatomines.
Keywords
Triatominae; Chagas disease; thermal limits
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