The present research was carried out in seven different counties of Ceará State, Brazil, namely Palhano, Russas, Limoeiro do Norte, Morada Nova, Canindé, Quixadá and Pereiro, from July 1983 to December 1984. Fifteen species of bats were sampled but only Artibeus planirostris, Phyllostomus hastatus and Phyllostomus discolor infected by trypanosoma were studied. The isolated trypanosomes from studied A. planirostris and some specimens of P. hastatus are similar in shape and dimensions to Trypanosoma cruzi. In the case of strains isolated from P. discolor and also from some specimens of P. hastatus, the shape and dimensions of trypanosomes allied to the characteristic that they did not infect mice, made us to compare them with Trypanosoma cruzi var. marinkellei.
