%0 Journal Article
%T Observations on the Domestic Ecology of Rhodnius ecuadoriensis (Triatominae)
%A Abad-Franch F
%A Aguilar V HM
%A Paucar C A
%A Lorosa ES
%J Mem¨®rias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
%D 2002
%I Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Minist¨¦rio da Sa¨²de
%X Rhodnius ecuadoriensis infests peridomiciles and colonises houses in rural southern Ecuador. Six out of 84 dwellings (7%) surveyed in a rural village were infested (78 bugs/infested domicile; 279 bugs were collected in a single dwelling). Precipitin tests revealed R. ecuadoriensis fed on birds (65%), rodents (31%), marsupials (8%), and humans (15%) - mixed bloodmeals detected in 37.5% of individual samples. Trypanosoma cruzi from opossums and rodents may thus be introduced into the domestic cycle. Wasp parasitoidism was detected in 6.5% of 995 R. ecuadoriensis eggs (only in peridomestic habitats). Control strategies should integrate insecticide spraying (indoors and peridomestic), better management of poultry, and housing improvements. A possible inefficacy of Malathion is reported.
%K Rhodnius ecuadoriensis
%K ecology
%K feeding
%K Chagas disease
%K control
%K Ecuador
%U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762002000200010