Much of our understanding of the ionoregulatory and excretory physiology of blood-feeding insects can be traced to a series of papers by Simon Maddrell and colleagues in the 1970s and 1980s. These studies of the Malpighian (renal) tubules of Rhodnius prolixus revealed a number of physiological adaptations to the short-term and long-term stresses associated with blood feeding. More recent electr...

The objective of this study is to determine if a Chagas disease protocol starting with a serological survey is as reliable at identifying insect-infested areas as one using the gold standard entomological survey. The study found that health center areas infested with Rhodnius prolixus were identified using a threshold seroprevalence of 0.1%. The serological survey took half the time and was 30%...

We report the identification of immune-related molecules from the fat body, and intestine of Rhodnius prolixus, an important vector of Chagas disease. Insects were challenged by introducing pathogens or Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, into the hemocoel. RNA from intestines, or fat body were isolated 24h after stimulation. We used suppressive subtractive hybridization...

Cytogenetics of triatomines have been a valuable biological tool for the study of evolution, taxonomy, and epidemiology of these vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi. Here we present a single microtube protocol that combines micro-centrifugation and micro-spreading, allowing high quality cytogenetic preparations from male gonadal material of Rhodnius prolixus and Triatoma lecticularia. The amount of ce...

Applied topically to larvae of Rhodnius prolixus Stal, Triatoma infestans (Klug) and Panstrongylus herreri Wygodzinsky, vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, a synthetic, furan-containing anti-juvenile hormonal compound, 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl furfuryl ether induced a variety of biomorphological alterations, including precocious metamorphosis into small adultoid...

This review deals with transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by the most important domestic vectors, blood transfusion and oral intake. Among the vectors, Triatoma infestans, Panstrongylus megistus, Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma dimidiata, Triatoma brasiliensis, Triatoma pseudomaculata, Triatoma sordida, Triatoma maculata, Panstrongylus geniculatus, Rhodnius ecuadoriensis and Rhodnius pallescens can ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE There are few reports of Coccus nucifera (Palmae) infestation by triatomines (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae), vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the causal agent of American Trypanosomiasis. The aim of this study was to determine if this palm is an appropriate ecotope for Rhodnius prolixus and Triatoma maculata, the main vectors in Venez...

1. The rate of pumping and total number of pump strokes was recorded whilst Rhodnius prolixus fed on measured amounts of artificial diets. 2. Increasing the viscosity of the diet caused a decline in both the frequency with which the pharyngeal pump operates and the average stroke volume of the pump. 3. In 5th-instar Rhodnius, the stroke volume tends toward a maximum value of about 60 nl at visc...