The municipality of Douradoquara has been surveyed regularly by SUCAM since 1975. Presently the prevalent species of triatomine bug is T. sordida, whose peridomiciliar behaviour was studied here in the absence of any general programme of insecticide application. We have taken care to protect the population by intradomiciliary sprying when the houses were infested during the first semester of 1985. One year after we confirmed the high presence ofl. sordida at the peridomicile. We observed an increase in the number of positive houses compared to the first survey, with an increase of the number of captured triatomines. The principal ecotope was found to be the store-room, followed by chickenhouses, pigsters and others. The spontaneous negativation of some ecotopes and the positivation of others suggest a great mobility of this species including the immature forms. We conclude that it is necessary to: spray the intradomicile of the positive domiciliary unit and spray the infested peridomicile to control the size of the colonies impeding the triatomine domiciliation process. The development of alternative methods of triatomine control must emphasise those that seek community participation.
Chagas' disease; Vector control; Triatoma sordida