The authors followed the development of 150 eggs of Triatoma rubrovaria to enable the construction of a life table for the nymphs. The winged form was reached by 94.64% of the individuals, of which 79 were males and 65 females. The mean lifetime of the males was 115 days and 99 days for the females. Part of this group was divided into 30 couples and kept separated to facilitate the count of egg laying by each female. Another lot was also formed of 30 males and 30 females but these were housed together in a glass crystallizer that allowed the observation of a larger number of eggs laid (7,832 eggs) in relationship to that of the females with only one male (total 5,167 eggs). The good development of the individuals and reproduction of the species in the experimental conditions demonstrated the capacity to maintain colonies of Triatoma rubrovaria in laboratory conditions.
Triatominae; Triatoma rubrovaria; Life table; Chagas' disease
