Confirmation of the occurrence of Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus (Champion, 1899) in the state of Acre, Western Amazon

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to confirm the occurrence of Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus in the state of Acre, Brazil.

METHODS

The four specimens of P. rufotuberculatus were obtained from the entomological collection of the Zoobotanical Park of the Federal University of Acre (UFAC).

RESULTS

Confirmation of the occurrence of this species in the state of Acre increases the number of species already registered, from nine to ten.

CONCLUSIONS

The necessity to develop further studies was verified, especially with the domiciliary process of P. rufotuberculatus, resulting in tracing prophylactic measures against the vector transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Keywords:
Triatominae; American trypanosomiasis; Chagas disease

Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis is a neglected illness and is considered one of the main endemic diseases in Latin America¹. In Brazil, it is estimated that more than 1.9 million people are affected, causing significant social and economic impacts².

The vector of this disease belongs to the family Reduviidae and subfamily Triatominae, which has 18 genera and 153 species (151 recent and 2 fossil species)^3,4. In the state of Acre (Brazilian Western Amazon), 4 genera and 10 species have been described: Rhodnius robustus by Stal, 1872; R. montenegrensis by Rosa et al., 2012; R. pictipes by Stal, 1872; R. neglectus by Lent, 1954; R. stali by Lent, Jurberg & Galvão, 1993; Panstrongylus geniculatus by Latreille, 1811; P. megistus by Burmeister, 1835; P. lignarius by Walker, 1873; Eratyrus mucronatus by Stal, 1859; and Triatoma sordida by Stål, 1859^1,5,6.

The two most important genera for the vectorial transmission of Chagas disease are Triatoma and Panstrongylus because of their potential roles in domiciliation and high parasitic rates^2,7,8. Both genera are already described for the state of Acre^1,5, but with the occurrence of few species.

The present study aimed to confirm the occurrence of the species P. rufotuberculatus in the state of Acre, Brazilian Western Amazon.

Four specimens of P. rufotuberculatus were found in the entomological collection of the Zoobotanical Park of the Federal University of Acre (UFAC). These were collected since 1994 from açaí trees (Euterpe oleracea) at the Catuaba Experimental Reserve (10 ° 09'03 "S, 67 ° 44 '09" W) belonging to UFAC located in the municipality of Senador Guiomard, 27.2 km from Rio Branco, the capital of the state of Acre.

The triatomines were sent to the Laboratory of Tropical Medicine (LABMEDT) of the UFAC, where the species were identified based on the morphological characteristics described by Lent & Wygodzinsky⁸, Jurberg et al², and Galvão⁷.

Three of the four triatomines were decayed and dried, and only one was intact. As such, no positivity test for trypanosomatids was performed to preserve the specimen.

The identification confirmed the occurrence of P. rufotuberculatus (Figure 1) in the state of Acre. The present study used the terminology confirmation, since this species was previously quoted for Acre in an abstract published in the annals of the 64^th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) in 2014⁹. However, the abstract did not include a photograph of the specimen, and this report is not considered in scientific papers.

FIGURE 1:
Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus. (A) Dorsal view; (B) Ventral view.

P. rufotuberculatus (Figure 1) shows a body with golden bristles on the dorsal surface; anterior pronotum lobe with reddish tubers; scutellum process that is rounded, conical, or truncated at the edge; segments of the connexival with a dark mark in the center; and light-green front wings².

Confirmation of the occurrence of the species P. rufotuberculatus in the state of Acre was already foreseen by Galvão⁷. The present registry increased the geographic distribution of the species in Brazil to four states: Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, and Pará, all belonging to the Brazilian Amazon (Figure 2). In addition to Brazil, P. rufotuberculatus has been found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela⁴ (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2:
Geographic distribution in South America and new report of the species P. rufotuberculatus.

The species P. rufotuberculatus has been shown to be able to infest human dwellings (incursion and domiciliation) and in peridomestic areas. It also can be naturally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi⁴, and this situation has already been described in Colombia¹⁰, Venezuela¹¹, Argentina¹², Costa Rica¹³, Peru¹⁴, and Ecuador¹⁵.

The occurrence of this triatomine in the state of Acre increases the number of species described for the state from ten to eleven, demanding the development of further studies in order to expand our knowledge about their feeding habits, infection by T. cruzi, and its domiciliation, making it possible to appraise and establish prophylactic measures against the vectorial transmission of T. cruzi.

Ethical considerations

The specimens were collected with permission from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources [Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA)], permanent license Nr. 52260-1.

Acknowledgments

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Acre (FAPAC). Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação da Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC). Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ).

REFERENCES

• ¹
  Ribeiro Castro MAL, de Souza Castro GV, de Souza JL, de Souza CR, Ramos LJ, Oliveira J, et al. First report of Panstrongylus megistus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) in the State of Acre and Rondônia, Amazon, Brazil. Acta Trop. 2018;182:158-60.
• ²
  Jurberg J, Rodrigues JMS, Moreira FFF, Dale C, Cordeiro IRS, Lamas Jr VD, et al. Atlas iconográfico dos triatomíneos do Brasil (vetores da doença de Chagas). Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; 2014. 58p.
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  Salomon OD, Ripoll CM, Rivetti E, Carcavallo RU. Presence of Panstongrylus rufotuberculatus (Champion,1899) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) in Argentina. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz . 1999;94(3):285-8.
• ¹³
  Zeledón R, Ugalde JA, Paniagua LA. Entomological and ecological aspects of six silvatic species of Triatomines (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) from the collection of the National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica, Central America. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz . 2001;96(6):757-64.
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  Torres DB, Cabrera R. Geographical distribution and intra-domiciliary capture of sylvatic triatomines in La Convención Province, Cusco, Peru. Rev Inst Med Trop São Paulo. 2010;52(3):157-60.
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  Grijalva MJ, Villacís AG, Moncayo AL, Ocaña-Mayorga S, Yumiseva CA, Baus EG. Distribution of triatomine species in domestic and peridomestic environments in central coastal Ecuador. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017;11(10):e0005970.

• Financial Support: Programa Pesquisa Para o SUS: Gestão Compartilhada em Saúde (PPSUS) 002/2016 - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Acre (FAPAC). Chamada Universal MCTI/CNPQ Nº 01/2016.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  11 Apr 2019
• Date of issue
  2019

History

• Received
  14 Sept 2018
• Accepted
  29 Nov 2018