Triatominae
From Freepedia
Triatominae is a subfamily of Reduviidae.
Many species within this subfamily are potential vectors of Chagas-Desease (not known by Darwin).
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Description by Charles Darwin
Description from Charles Darwin's Journal and Remarks, commonly known as The Voyage of the Beagle; Extract from entry for 25 March 1835:
"We crossed the Luxan, which is a river of considerable size, though its course towards the sea-coast is very imperfectly known: it is even doubtful whether, in passing over the plains, it is not evaporated and lost. We slept in the village of Luxan, which is a small place surrounded by gardens, and forms the most southern cultivated district in the Province of Mendoza; it is five leagues south of the capital. At night I experienced an attack (for it deserves no less a name) of the Benchuca, a species of Reduvius, the great black bug of the Pampas. It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over one's body. Before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards they become round and bloated with blood, and in this state are easily crushed. One which I caught at Iquique, (for they are found in Chile and Peru,) was very empty. When placed on a table, and though surrounded by people, if a finger was presented, the bold insect would immediately protrude its sucker, make a charge, and if allowed, draw blood. No pain was caused by the wound. It was curious to watch its body during the act of sucking, as in less than ten minutes it changed from being as flat as a wafer to a globular form. This one feast, for which the benchuca was indebted to one of the officers, kept it fat during four whole months; but, after the first fortnight, it was quite ready to have another suck."
Tribes, Genera and numbers of described species
- Alberproseniini
- Bolboderini
- Belminus 6
- Bolbodera 1
- Microtriatoma 2
- Parabelminus 2
- Cavernicolini
- Linshcosteusinii
- Rhodniini
- Psammolestes 3
- Rhodnius 14
- Triatomini
- Dipetalogaster 1
- Eratyrus 2
- Hermanlentia 1
- Mepraia 2
- Panstrongylus 13
- Paratriatoma 1
- Triatoma 75
fat: containing species are possibly able to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi to humans (Chagas).
Total Number of Triatominae species: 134.
The number of species which are suspected or have shown to be able to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi: 79;
47 of these belong to the genus Triatoma.
See also
Sources
- ECLAT = European Community Latin American Network for Research on the Biology and Control of Triatominae [1]
- SCHOFIELD, Christopher J. Biosystematics and evolution of the Triatominae. Cad. Saúde Pública. [online]. 2000, vol.16 suppl.2 [cited 06 May 2005], p.89-92. Available from World Wide Web: [[2]]. ISSN 0102-311X.
External links
- Literature list: http://www.arose.net/triatoma/lit-list.htm
- http://biolo.bg.fcen.uba.ar/finsweb/fins.htm LABORATORIO DE FISIOLOGÍA DE INSECTOS, Argentinia
- http://www.cpqrr.fiocruz.br/nova_hp_asp.asp Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Brasil
Google picture search
The pictures will give an overview of the main morphology of the main vectors. Today, other species could be also important for the transmission of chagas disease. Some of the pictures could be "open source" also and should be considered to be included in wikipedia (!).
