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Background  Oil palm plantation establishment in Colombia has the potential to impact Chagas disease transmission by increasing the distribution range of  Rhodnius prolixus . In fact, previous studies have reported  Trypanosoma cruzi  natural infection in  R. prolixus  captured in oil palms ( Elaeis guineensis ) in the Orinoco region, Colombia. The aim of this study is to understand  T. cruzi  infection in vectors in oil palm plantations relative to community composition and host dietary specialization by analyzing vector blood meals and comparing these results to vectors captured in a native palm tree species,  Attalea butyracea .    Methods   Rhodnius prolixus  nymphs ( n  = 316) were collected from  A. butyracea  and  E. guineensis  palms in Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia. Vector blood meals from these nymphs were determined by amplifying and sequencing a vertebrate-specific  12S  rRNA gene fragment.    Results  Eighteen vertebrate species were identified and pigs ( Sus scrofa ) made up the highest proportion of blood meals in both habitats, followed by house mouse ( Mus musculus ) and opossum ( Didelphis marsupialis ). Individual bugs feeding only from generalist mammal species had the highest predicted vector infection rate, suggesting that generalist mammalian species are more competent hosts for  T. cruzi  infection .    Conclusions  Oil palm plantations and  A. butyracea  palms found in altered areas provide a similar quality habitat for  R. prolixus  populations in terms of blood meal availability. Both habitats showed similarities in vector infection rate and potential host species, representing a single  T. cruzi  transmission scenario at the introduced oil palm plantation and native  Attalea  palm interface.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3519-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Generalist host species drive Trypanosoma cruzi vector infection in oil palm plantations in the Orinoco region, Colombia