Open AccessEnhancing fitness in offspring of crosses between two triatomine species
Author(s) -
MerazMedina Tzintli,
NoguedaTorres Benjamín,
CeballosRodríguez René Salvador,
GodínezAceves Karla Cytlalli,
MartínezIbarra José Alejandro
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of vector ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1948-7134
pISSN - 1081-1710
DOI - 10.1111/jvec.12341
Subject(s) - biology , triatominae , chagas disease , trypanosoma cruzi , hatching , offspring , hemiptera , hybrid , reduviidae , zoology , vector (molecular biology) , instar , ecology , parasite hosting , genetics , immunology , botany , larva , pregnancy , world wide web , computer science , gene , recombinant dna
ABSTRACT Chagas disease is one of the main vector‐borne diseases in Latin America, including Mexico. Understanding the biological parameters of the triatomine species is a crucial first step in estimating the epidemiologic importance of each group. The aim of this study was to compare the biological fitness of Meccus pallidipennis (Stål), M. bassolsae (Alejandre, Nogueda, Cortez, Jurberg, Galvão, Carcavallo) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) and their laboratory hybrids, by estimating six biological parameters in order to increase the knowledge of the potential role of triatomine hybrids in the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi to reservoir hosts. Biological parameters related to lifespan, number of blood meals to molt, mortality for each instar, percentage of females at the end of the cycle, number of eggs laid, and hatching of eggs in four cohorts of 100 specimens of M. pallidipennis , M. bassolsae , and their laboratory hybrids were evaluated and compared. In four of the six studied parameters (accumulative mortality, the percentage of females, mean number of laid eggs, and egg hatching), the hybrid cohorts had better fitness results than the parental cohorts. The increase in hybrid fitness found in our study could lead to an increase in the epidemiologic risks caused by transmission of T. cruzi to humans.